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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
468
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: land · spring · coach · tear · tube · lie · wave · game

  1. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  2. When are we going to ________________?
  3. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  4. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  5. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  6. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  7. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  8. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  9. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  10. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  11. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  12. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  13. That was a fun ________________.
  14. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  15. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  16. I'll be taking the ________________.
  17. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  18. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  19. Have you met the new head ________________?
  20. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  21. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  22. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  23. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  24. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.

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

Answer key

  1. game — wild animals
  2. land — to come down
  3. tear — from crying
  4. lie — an untruth
  5. spring — of water
  6. tube — a container
  7. wave — with your hand
  8. coach — a trainer
  9. wave — of the sea
  10. land — ground
  11. lie — to recline
  12. game — a kind of play
  13. game — a match
  14. spring — the season
  15. spring — a coil
  16. tube — the underground
  17. wave — a sudden rise
  18. tube — in a tire
  19. coach — a trainer
  20. land — a country
  21. tear — from crying
  22. tear — to rip
  23. coach — pulled by horses
  24. lie — an untruth

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