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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: kid · hand · object · last · lean · wind · rock · spring

  1. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  2. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  3. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  4. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  5. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  6. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  7. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  8. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  9. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  10. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  11. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  12. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  13. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  14. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  15. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  16. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  17. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  18. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  19. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  20. False peace will not ________________.
  21. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  22. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  23. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  24. At ________________, we arrived at the village.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — a coil
  2. wind — moving air
  3. object — to protest
  4. rock — to move gently
  5. object — a thing
  6. kid — to tease
  7. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  8. rock — a stone
  9. last — final
  10. kid — child
  11. rock — music
  12. lean — to bend
  13. spring — of water
  14. lean — thin
  15. object — an aim
  16. hand — in cards
  17. spring — the season
  18. wind — moving air
  19. hand — part of the body
  20. last — to go on
  21. lean — to rest against
  22. hand — help
  23. wind — to turn a key
  24. last — finally

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