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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. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  2. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  3. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  4. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  5. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  6. The King held a masked ________________.
  7. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  8. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  9. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  10. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  11. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  12. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  13. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  14. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  15. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  16. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  17. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  18. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  19. Have you settled on a ________________?
  20. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  21. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  22. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  23. Where did you ________________ them?
  24. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.

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

Answer key

  1. mug — a face
  2. tear — to rip
  3. spring — a coil
  4. lean — to bend
  5. date — the fruit
  6. ball — a dance
  7. ball — a great time
  8. bat — the animal
  9. present — there
  10. bat — in an idiom
  11. spring — the season
  12. tear — from crying
  13. tear — from crying
  14. lean — thin
  15. present — a gift
  16. spring — of water
  17. present — the time now
  18. date — on the calendar
  19. date — on the calendar
  20. mug — a cup
  21. ball — a round shape
  22. bat — for baseball
  23. mug — to rob
  24. lean — to rest against

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