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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 116 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: hide · dip · mine · ground · tube · tear · spring · face

  1. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  2. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  3. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  4. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  5. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  6. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  7. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  8. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  9. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  10. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  11. I'll be taking the ________________.
  12. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  13. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  14. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  15. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  16. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  17. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  18. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  19. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  20. There's no middle ________________.
  21. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  22. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  23. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  24. She's sitting on a gold ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. face — to confront
  2. ground — the earth
  3. dip — a sauce
  4. spring — of water
  5. tube — in a tire
  6. spring — a coil
  7. hide — to keep secret
  8. hide — to keep secret
  9. dip — to dunk
  10. mine — belonging to me
  11. tube — the underground
  12. spring — the season
  13. tear — from crying
  14. hide — animal skin
  15. tube — a container
  16. tear — to rip
  17. ground — crushed
  18. dip — to sink
  19. face — part of the head
  20. ground — a position
  21. tear — from crying
  22. mine — an explosive
  23. face — to point toward
  24. mine — for digging

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