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

Word bank: tear · spring · chair · toast · cold · foot

  1. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  2. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  3. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  4. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  5. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  8. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  9. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  10. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  13. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  16. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  17. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  18. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a professorship
  2. tear — to rip
  3. foot — the bottom
  4. tear — from crying
  5. chair — to sit on
  6. cold — not warm
  7. foot — part of the body
  8. tear — from crying
  9. toast — bread
  10. chair — a leader
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. toast — a drink to someone
  13. spring — the season
  14. cold — an illness
  15. toast — the most admired
  16. spring — of water
  17. spring — a coil
  18. foot — a measure

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