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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. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  2. I'll be taking the ________________.
  3. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  4. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  5. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  6. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  7. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  8. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  9. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  12. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  15. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  16. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  17. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  19. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  20. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  21. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  22. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  23. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  24. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — of water
  2. tube — the underground
  3. spring — the season
  4. straw — a straw man
  5. pound — for dogs
  6. march — the month
  7. pound — to hit hard
  8. lash — to lash out
  9. straw — to clutch at straws
  10. clip — for paper
  11. march — music
  12. spring — a coil
  13. clip — a video
  14. cap — of ice
  15. lash — an eyelash
  16. tube — in a tire
  17. straw — dry grass
  18. clip — to cut
  19. tube — a container
  20. pound — a weight
  21. lash — a whip stroke
  22. march — the month
  23. cap — a lid
  24. cap — a hat

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