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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. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  2. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  3. Did you ________________ the meat?
  4. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  5. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  6. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  7. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  8. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  9. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  10. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  11. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  12. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  13. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  14. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  15. I'll be taking the ________________.
  16. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  17. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  18. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  19. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  20. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  21. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  22. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  23. Have you met the new head ________________?
  24. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.

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

Answer key

  1. season — of the year
  2. tear — from crying
  3. season — to add flavour
  4. scale — in music
  5. tear — to rip
  6. season — in sport
  7. coach — pulled by horses
  8. chest — a box
  9. tube — in a tire
  10. spring — the season
  11. tear — from crying
  12. capital — money
  13. capital — a big letter
  14. chest — of your body
  15. tube — the underground
  16. tube — a container
  17. scale — for weighing
  18. scale — size or range
  19. spring — a coil
  20. spring — of water
  21. chest — of your body
  22. capital — a city
  23. coach — a trainer
  24. coach — a trainer

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