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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. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  2. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  3. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  4. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  5. This piece is in a major ________________.
  6. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  7. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  8. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  9. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  10. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  11. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  12. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  13. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  14. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  15. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  16. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  17. Have you found your soul ________________?
  18. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  19. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  20. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  21. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  22. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  23. How do you ________________ your surname?
  24. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. calf — a young animal
  3. mate — to breed
  4. spell — magic
  5. key — in music
  6. mine — belonging to me
  7. spring — of water
  8. spring — a coil
  9. key — the most important part
  10. spring — the season
  11. snap — to speak sharply
  12. tear — to rip
  13. mate — a friend
  14. key — for a lock
  15. tear — from crying
  16. calf — of the leg
  17. mate — a partner
  18. mine — for digging
  19. spell — a short time
  20. mine — an explosive
  21. snap — to click
  22. snap — to snap out of it
  23. spell — letters
  24. calf — a young animal

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