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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: bear · scale · pitcher · tear · plane · squash · bat · spring

  1. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  2. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  3. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  4. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  5. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  6. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  7. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  8. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  9. The ________________ took off on time.
  10. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  11. He is an ace ________________.
  12. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  13. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  14. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  15. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  16. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  17. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  18. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  19. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  20. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  21. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  22. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  23. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  24. The flowers bloom in the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bear — to put up with
  2. tear — from crying
  3. spring — of water
  4. tear — to rip
  5. plane — in geometry
  6. squash — the sport
  7. squash — to crush
  8. spring — a coil
  9. plane — an aircraft
  10. scale — for weighing
  11. pitcher — in baseball
  12. bat — the animal
  13. bear — the animal
  14. tear — from crying
  15. scale — in music
  16. plane — a tool
  17. pitcher — a jug
  18. scale — size or range
  19. bat — for baseball
  20. bat — in an idiom
  21. bear — the animal
  22. squash — the vegetable
  23. pitcher — a jug
  24. spring — the season

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