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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 ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  2. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  3. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  4. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  5. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  6. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  7. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  8. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  9. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  10. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  11. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  12. The ball is in your ________________.
  13. There's no middle ________________.
  14. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  15. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  16. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  17. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  18. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  19. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  20. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  21. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  22. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  23. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  24. The flowers bloom in the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — the earth
  2. spring — of water
  3. tear — from crying
  4. court — of a king
  5. bat — the animal
  6. spring — a coil
  7. tear — from crying
  8. shower — a meteor shower
  9. file — a document
  10. tear — to rip
  11. ground — crushed
  12. court — for sport
  13. ground — a position
  14. court — of law
  15. shower — rain
  16. file — a line of people
  17. lash — an eyelash
  18. shower — to wash
  19. bat — for baseball
  20. file — a tool
  21. lash — a whip stroke
  22. bat — in an idiom
  23. lash — to lash out
  24. spring — the season

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