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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. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  2. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  3. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  4. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  5. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  6. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  7. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  8. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  9. Have you settled on a ________________?
  10. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  11. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  12. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  13. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  14. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  15. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  16. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  17. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  18. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  19. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  20. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  21. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  22. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  23. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  24. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — of water
  2. band — a ring
  3. date — the fruit
  4. bowl — a football final
  5. bowl — a dish
  6. leaves — to go away
  7. tear — from crying
  8. tear — to rip
  9. date — on the calendar
  10. leaves — of a tree
  11. spring — a coil
  12. drill — army training
  13. wake — before a funeral
  14. leaves — lets stay
  15. tear — from crying
  16. drill — a practice
  17. band — a music group
  18. bowl — to roll
  19. date — on the calendar
  20. band — a rubber band
  21. wake — to stop sleeping
  22. wake — a trail
  23. spring — the season
  24. drill — the tool

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