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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. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  2. Don't do anything ________________.
  3. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  4. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  5. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  6. I'll be taking the ________________.
  7. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  8. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  9. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  10. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  11. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  12. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  13. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  14. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  15. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  16. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  17. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  18. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  19. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  20. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  21. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  22. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  23. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  24. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.

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

Answer key

  1. track — a path
  2. rash — hasty
  3. lash — to lash out
  4. bat — in an idiom
  5. bat — the animal
  6. tube — the underground
  7. tear — to rip
  8. spring — the season
  9. bat — for baseball
  10. board — a committee
  11. spring — of water
  12. board — to get on
  13. spring — a coil
  14. board — a flat piece
  15. track — a song
  16. tear — from crying
  17. tube — a container
  18. track — to keep track
  19. lash — an eyelash
  20. rash — on the skin
  21. lash — a whip stroke
  22. tube — in a tire
  23. tear — from crying
  24. rash — a series

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