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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. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  2. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  3. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  4. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  5. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  6. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  7. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  8. Have you found your soul ________________?
  9. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  10. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  11. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  12. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  13. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  14. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  17. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  20. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  21. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  24. I'll be taking the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. track — a song
  2. spring — of water
  3. spring — a coil
  4. spring — the season
  5. tube — in a tire
  6. mate — to breed
  7. leaves — of a tree
  8. mate — a partner
  9. leaves — lets stay
  10. leaves — to go away
  11. row — a quarrel
  12. row — to paddle
  13. row — a line
  14. tear — from crying
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. tear — to rip
  17. track — to keep track
  18. cold — not warm
  19. track — a path
  20. mate — a friend
  21. tube — a container
  22. cold — an illness
  23. tear — from crying
  24. tube — the underground

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