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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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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: ground · spring · bear · land · dip · tear

  1. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  2. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  3. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  4. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  5. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  6. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  7. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  8. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  9. When are we going to ________________?
  10. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  11. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  12. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  13. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  14. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  15. There's no middle ________________.
  16. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  17. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  18. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.

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

Answer key

  1. bear — the animal
  2. land — a country
  3. spring — the season
  4. tear — from crying
  5. ground — crushed
  6. spring — a coil
  7. spring — of water
  8. tear — to rip
  9. land — to come down
  10. ground — the earth
  11. dip — a sauce
  12. tear — from crying
  13. bear — to put up with
  14. land — ground
  15. ground — a position
  16. dip — to dunk
  17. bear — the animal
  18. dip — to sink

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