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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. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  3. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  4. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  5. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  6. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  7. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  8. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  9. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  10. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  11. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  12. We're almost out of ________________.
  13. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  14. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  15. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  16. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  17. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  18. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  19. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  20. You don't need to ________________ round.
  21. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  22. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  23. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  24. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — the season
  2. wound — past of 'wind'
  3. can — a tin
  4. bat — the animal
  5. bat — in an idiom
  6. pop — music
  7. bat — for baseball
  8. wound — an injury
  9. racket — for tennis
  10. can — to be able to
  11. racket — a loud noise
  12. pop — soda
  13. file — a document
  14. wound — an injury
  15. file — a line of people
  16. spring — of water
  17. can — a tin
  18. racket — for tennis
  19. spring — a coil
  20. pop — to visit
  21. hand — part of the body
  22. hand — in cards
  23. hand — help
  24. file — a 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