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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: spring · bay · tear · kid · bowl · rule

  1. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  2. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  3. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  4. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  5. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  6. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  7. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  8. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  9. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  10. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  11. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  12. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  13. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  14. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  15. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  16. My mare is ________________ in color.
  17. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  18. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — to roll
  2. rule — to rule out
  3. bowl — a dish
  4. tear — from crying
  5. spring — of water
  6. bowl — a football final
  7. kid — child
  8. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  9. bay — a part of the sea
  10. kid — to tease
  11. rule — a law
  12. bay — to keep at bay
  13. rule — government
  14. spring — the season
  15. tear — to rip
  16. bay — a horse colour
  17. tear — from crying
  18. spring — a coil

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