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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: bowl · mate · spring · mine · tube · wound · fall · kid

  1. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  2. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  3. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  4. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  5. I'll be taking the ________________.
  6. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  7. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  8. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  9. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  10. Have you found your soul ________________?
  11. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  12. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  13. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  14. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  15. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  16. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  17. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  18. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  19. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  20. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  21. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  22. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  23. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  24. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — belonging to me
  2. kid — child
  3. bowl — a dish
  4. mine — an explosive
  5. tube — the underground
  6. kid — to tease
  7. tube — in a tire
  8. wound — past of 'wind'
  9. wound — an injury
  10. mate — a partner
  11. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  12. spring — of water
  13. spring — the season
  14. fall — the season
  15. tube — a container
  16. wound — an injury
  17. fall — to drop
  18. mate — a friend
  19. spring — a coil
  20. bowl — a football final
  21. bowl — to roll
  22. fall — to drop
  23. mine — for digging
  24. mate — to breed

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