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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 120 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 flowers bloom in the ________________.
  2. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  3. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  4. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  5. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  6. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  7. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  8. When was this ________________ built?
  9. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  10. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  11. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  12. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  13. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  14. That was ________________ to happen.
  15. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  16. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  17. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  18. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  19. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  20. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  21. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  22. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  23. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  24. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — the season
  2. bat — in an idiom
  3. file — a document
  4. bat — the animal
  5. spring — a coil
  6. bound — tied together
  7. spring — of water
  8. temple — a place of worship
  9. file — a tool
  10. calf — of the leg
  11. temple — a place of worship
  12. bound — obliged
  13. chest — of your body
  14. bound — certain
  15. wind — moving air
  16. temple — side of the head
  17. calf — a young animal
  18. wind — to turn a key
  19. wind — moving air
  20. bat — for baseball
  21. file — a line of people
  22. chest — of your body
  23. calf — a young animal
  24. chest — a box

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