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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 120 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  2. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  3. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  4. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  5. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  6. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  7. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  8. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  9. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  10. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  11. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  12. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  13. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  14. Have you found your soul ________________?
  15. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  16. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  17. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  18. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  19. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  20. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  21. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  22. It's one o'clock ________________.
  23. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  24. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. spring — a coil
  2. leaves — lets stay
  3. tear — from crying
  4. bat — for baseball
  5. bass — the instrument
  6. spring — the season
  7. mate — a friend
  8. mate — to breed
  9. bass — low music
  10. fork — a garden tool
  11. bat — the animal
  12. leaves — to go away
  13. fork — to eat with
  14. mate — a partner
  15. sharp — clever
  16. fork — in a road
  17. sharp — with an edge
  18. tear — to rip
  19. bass — the fish
  20. leaves — of a tree
  21. spring — of water
  22. sharp — exactly
  23. tear — from crying
  24. bat — in an idiom

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com