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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. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  3. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  4. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  5. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  6. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  7. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  8. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  9. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  10. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  11. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  12. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  13. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  14. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  18. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  19. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  20. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  21. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  22. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  23. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  24. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — a coil
  2. bowl — a football final
  3. lash — an eyelash
  4. bowl — a dish
  5. tear — from crying
  6. mine — an explosive
  7. board — to get on
  8. tear — to rip
  9. spring — the season
  10. board — a committee
  11. rest — what's left
  12. rest — a break
  13. board — a flat piece
  14. lash — a whip stroke
  15. clip — a video
  16. clip — for paper
  17. bowl — to roll
  18. lash — to lash out
  19. rest — what's left
  20. mine — for digging
  21. spring — of water
  22. clip — to cut
  23. tear — from crying
  24. mine — belonging to me

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