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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. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  2. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  3. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  4. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  5. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  6. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  7. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  8. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  9. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  10. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  11. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  12. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  13. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  14. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  15. I'll be taking the ________________.
  16. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  17. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  18. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  19. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  20. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  21. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  22. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  23. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  24. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — a coil
  2. club — for dancing
  3. mine — an explosive
  4. mine — for digging
  5. bat — in an idiom
  6. toast — bread
  7. hand — part of the body
  8. present — a gift
  9. bat — for baseball
  10. mine — belonging to me
  11. tube — in a tire
  12. club — for golf
  13. bat — the animal
  14. spring — the season
  15. tube — the underground
  16. toast — the most admired
  17. tube — a container
  18. hand — in cards
  19. toast — a drink to someone
  20. present — the time now
  21. hand — help
  22. spring — of water
  23. present — there
  24. club — a group

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