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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. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  3. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  4. She's very handy with a ________________.
  5. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  6. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  7. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  8. He works in a ________________ mill.
  9. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  10. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  11. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  12. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  13. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  14. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  15. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  16. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  17. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  18. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  19. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  20. I'll be taking the ________________.
  21. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  22. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  23. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  24. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — a coil
  2. tube — in a tire
  3. row — a quarrel
  4. saw — the tool
  5. spring — the season
  6. wind — to turn a key
  7. firm — a company
  8. saw — the tool
  9. spring — of water
  10. wind — moving air
  11. row — to paddle
  12. firm — steady
  13. dip — to dunk
  14. row — a line
  15. bat — the animal
  16. dip — a sauce
  17. tube — a container
  18. saw — past of 'see'
  19. bat — for baseball
  20. tube — the underground
  21. firm — decided
  22. bat — in an idiom
  23. wind — moving air
  24. dip — to sink

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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