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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 124 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. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  2. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  3. Did you ________________ the meat?
  4. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  5. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  6. She's very handy with a ________________.
  7. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  8. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  9. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  10. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  11. The ________________ went through the wall.
  12. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  13. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  14. He works in a ________________ mill.
  15. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  16. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  17. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  18. The ball is in your ________________.
  19. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  20. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  21. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  22. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  23. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  24. I'll be taking the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — a container
  2. bat — the animal
  3. season — to add flavour
  4. spring — of water
  5. nail — on a finger
  6. saw — the tool
  7. season — in sport
  8. saw — past of 'see'
  9. spring — the season
  10. tear — to rip
  11. nail — for a hammer
  12. bat — for baseball
  13. tube — in a tire
  14. saw — the tool
  15. spring — a coil
  16. bat — in an idiom
  17. tear — from crying
  18. court — for sport
  19. court — of law
  20. court — of a king
  21. nail — for a hammer
  22. season — of the year
  23. tear — from crying
  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