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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.

Words on the sheet
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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: ball · spring · bear · straw · lie · field

  1. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  2. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  3. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  4. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  5. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  6. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  7. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  8. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  9. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  10. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  11. The King held a masked ________________.
  12. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  13. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  14. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  15. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  16. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  17. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  18. A black ________________ roamed the forest.

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

Answer key

  1. lie — an untruth
  2. bear — to put up with
  3. spring — a coil
  4. spring — the season
  5. ball — a great time
  6. field — for sport
  7. lie — an untruth
  8. lie — to recline
  9. straw — to clutch at straws
  10. ball — a round shape
  11. ball — a dance
  12. straw — a straw man
  13. bear — the animal
  14. field — farmland
  15. straw — dry grass
  16. field — a subject
  17. spring — of water
  18. bear — the 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