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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. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  2. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  3. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  4. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  5. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  6. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  7. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  8. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  9. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  10. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  11. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  12. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  13. Did you ________________ the meat?
  14. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  15. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  16. There's no middle ________________.
  17. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  18. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  19. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  20. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  21. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  22. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  23. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  24. I'll be taking the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — a coil
  2. season — of the year
  3. tube — a container
  4. fall — the season
  5. present — a gift
  6. file — a line of people
  7. ground — the earth
  8. ground — crushed
  9. bark — of a tree
  10. spring — of water
  11. tube — in a tire
  12. spring — the season
  13. season — to add flavour
  14. present — the time now
  15. file — a tool
  16. ground — a position
  17. present — there
  18. fall — to drop
  19. file — a document
  20. bark — to shout
  21. season — in sport
  22. fall — to drop
  23. bark — a dog's sound
  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