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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 120 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: fall · spring · lean · tear · season · spell · kid · row

  1. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  2. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  3. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  4. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  5. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  6. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  7. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  8. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  9. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  10. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  11. Did you ________________ the meat?
  12. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  13. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  14. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  15. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  16. How do you ________________ your surname?
  17. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  18. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  19. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  20. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  21. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  22. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  23. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  24. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  2. kid — child
  3. spring — of water
  4. lean — to bend
  5. lean — thin
  6. fall — to drop
  7. spell — a short time
  8. lean — to rest against
  9. tear — from crying
  10. spring — the season
  11. season — to add flavour
  12. kid — to tease
  13. tear — to rip
  14. spell — magic
  15. season — of the year
  16. spell — letters
  17. fall — to drop
  18. fall — the season
  19. season — in sport
  20. spring — a coil
  21. row — to paddle
  22. row — a quarrel
  23. tear — from crying
  24. row — a line

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