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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. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  2. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  3. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  4. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  5. He works in a ________________ mill.
  6. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  7. She's very handy with a ________________.
  8. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  9. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  10. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  11. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  12. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  13. The light ________________ burned out.
  14. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  15. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  16. We're almost out of ________________.
  17. I've got to change the light ________________.
  18. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  19. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  20. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  21. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  22. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  23. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  24. You don't need to ________________ round.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — a coil
  2. band — a ring
  3. tear — from crying
  4. bat — for baseball
  5. saw — the tool
  6. wake — a trail
  7. saw — the tool
  8. bat — in an idiom
  9. spring — the season
  10. tear — to rip
  11. tear — from crying
  12. wake — before a funeral
  13. bulb — for light
  14. saw — past of 'see'
  15. wake — to stop sleeping
  16. pop — soda
  17. bulb — for light
  18. band — a music group
  19. spring — of water
  20. bulb — of a plant
  21. band — a rubber band
  22. bat — the animal
  23. pop — music
  24. pop — to visit

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