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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. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  2. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  3. Have you met the new head ________________?
  4. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  5. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  6. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  7. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  8. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  9. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  10. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  11. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  12. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  13. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  14. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  15. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  16. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  17. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  18. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  19. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  20. The King held a masked ________________.
  21. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  22. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  23. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  24. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — the season
  2. ball — a round shape
  3. coach — a trainer
  4. rest — what's left
  5. spring — a coil
  6. rule — government
  7. rest — a break
  8. bat — for baseball
  9. coach — pulled by horses
  10. track — a path
  11. wound — an injury
  12. bat — in an idiom
  13. rule — a law
  14. wound — past of 'wind'
  15. rest — what's left
  16. ball — a great time
  17. track — a song
  18. coach — a trainer
  19. bat — the animal
  20. ball — a dance
  21. track — to keep track
  22. spring — of water
  23. rule — to rule out
  24. wound — an injury

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