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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 flowers bloom in the ________________.
  2. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  3. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  4. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  5. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  6. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  7. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  8. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  9. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  10. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  11. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  12. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  13. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  14. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  15. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  16. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  17. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  18. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  19. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  20. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  21. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  22. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  23. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  24. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — the season
  2. rule — a law
  3. bat — the animal
  4. hide — to keep secret
  5. branch — of a tree
  6. rock — a stone
  7. trunk — of a car
  8. spring — a coil
  9. hide — to keep secret
  10. branch — of a bank
  11. root — of a plant
  12. trunk — of a tree
  13. rule — government
  14. branch — a division
  15. root — the cause
  16. rock — to move gently
  17. root — of a word
  18. trunk — of an elephant
  19. rule — to rule out
  20. bat — in an idiom
  21. hide — animal skin
  22. rock — music
  23. bat — for baseball
  24. spring — of water

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