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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: row · cell · bear · rash · fall · mine · bat · spring

  1. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  2. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  3. Don't do anything ________________.
  4. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  5. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  6. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  7. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  8. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  9. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  10. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  11. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  12. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  13. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  14. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  15. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  16. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  17. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  18. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  19. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  20. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  21. He was locked up in a ________________.
  22. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  23. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  24. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.

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

Answer key

  1. row — a quarrel
  2. bat — for baseball
  3. rash — hasty
  4. rash — a series
  5. bat — in an idiom
  6. fall — to drop
  7. spring — a coil
  8. spring — the season
  9. fall — the season
  10. cell — in biology
  11. cell — a phone
  12. bear — to put up with
  13. row — to paddle
  14. mine — an explosive
  15. row — a line
  16. bat — the animal
  17. mine — for digging
  18. bear — the animal
  19. rash — on the skin
  20. spring — of water
  21. cell — in a prison
  22. mine — belonging to me
  23. bear — the animal
  24. fall — to drop

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