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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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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: straw · spring · bear · vault · hand · scale · ground · sharp

  1. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  2. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  3. There's no middle ________________.
  4. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  5. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  6. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  7. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  8. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  9. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  10. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  11. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  12. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  13. It's one o'clock ________________.
  14. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  15. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  16. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  17. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  18. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  19. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  20. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  21. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  22. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  23. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  24. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — dry grass
  2. spring — the season
  3. ground — a position
  4. spring — a coil
  5. scale — size or range
  6. hand — part of the body
  7. bear — to put up with
  8. sharp — with an edge
  9. sharp — clever
  10. straw — to clutch at straws
  11. bear — the animal
  12. spring — of water
  13. sharp — exactly
  14. ground — crushed
  15. scale — in music
  16. straw — a straw man
  17. ground — the earth
  18. vault — in gymnastics
  19. hand — in cards
  20. bear — the animal
  21. hand — help
  22. vault — a safe
  23. vault — an arched ceiling
  24. scale — for weighing

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