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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. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  2. You don't need to ________________ round.
  3. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  4. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  5. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  6. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  7. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  8. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  9. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  10. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  11. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  12. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  13. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  14. We're almost out of ________________.
  15. The King held a masked ________________.
  16. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  17. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  18. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  19. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  20. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  21. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  22. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  23. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  24. The flowers bloom in the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. racket — for tennis
  2. pop — to visit
  3. spring — a coil
  4. bank — of a river
  5. tear — to rip
  6. scale — for weighing
  7. tear — from crying
  8. ball — a great time
  9. racket — a loud noise
  10. wake — a trail
  11. tear — from crying
  12. scale — size or range
  13. pop — music
  14. pop — soda
  15. ball — a dance
  16. wake — to stop sleeping
  17. spring — of water
  18. bank — for money
  19. wake — before a funeral
  20. scale — in music
  21. ball — a round shape
  22. bank — for money
  23. racket — for tennis
  24. spring — the season

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