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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 116 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. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  3. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  4. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  5. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  6. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  7. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  8. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  9. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  10. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  11. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  12. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  13. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  14. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  15. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  16. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  17. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  18. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  19. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  20. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  21. That was ________________ to happen.
  22. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  23. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  24. I'll be taking the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — a coil
  2. bear — the animal
  3. tube — in a tire
  4. spring — of water
  5. bark — to shout
  6. mine — an explosive
  7. bark — of a tree
  8. hand — in cards
  9. row — a line
  10. mine — belonging to me
  11. bound — tied together
  12. row — a quarrel
  13. hand — help
  14. spring — the season
  15. bark — a dog's sound
  16. bear — the animal
  17. bear — to put up with
  18. hand — part of the body
  19. mine — for digging
  20. tube — a container
  21. bound — certain
  22. bound — obliged
  23. row — to paddle
  24. tube — the underground

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