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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. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  2. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  3. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  4. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  5. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  6. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  7. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  8. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  9. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  10. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  11. That was a fun ________________.
  12. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  13. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  14. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  15. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  16. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  17. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  18. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  19. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  20. She's very handy with a ________________.
  21. He works in a ________________ mill.
  22. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  23. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  24. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — a coil
  2. track — a path
  3. bat — the animal
  4. track — to keep track
  5. spring — the season
  6. track — a song
  7. craft — boats
  8. bat — in an idiom
  9. game — wild animals
  10. bat — for baseball
  11. game — a match
  12. tear — from crying
  13. tear — to rip
  14. saw — past of 'see'
  15. stick — to attach or keep to
  16. tear — from crying
  17. spring — of water
  18. game — a kind of play
  19. stick — a piece of wood
  20. saw — the tool
  21. saw — the tool
  22. craft — a handicraft
  23. craft — a skill
  24. stick — a piece of wood

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