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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: ball · row · bear · wound · spring · last · fine · mate

  1. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  2. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  3. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  4. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  5. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  6. The King held a masked ________________.
  7. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  8. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  9. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  10. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  11. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  12. Have you found your soul ________________?
  13. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  14. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  15. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  16. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  17. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  18. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  19. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  20. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  21. False peace will not ________________.
  22. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  23. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  24. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!

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

Answer key

  1. fine — high quality
  2. wound — an injury
  3. fine — all right
  4. spring — a coil
  5. spring — of water
  6. ball — a dance
  7. fine — a penalty
  8. row — a quarrel
  9. spring — the season
  10. bear — the animal
  11. ball — a round shape
  12. mate — a partner
  13. mate — to breed
  14. mate — a friend
  15. last — finally
  16. bear — to put up with
  17. wound — an injury
  18. row — a line
  19. wound — past of 'wind'
  20. ball — a great time
  21. last — to go on
  22. row — to paddle
  23. bear — the animal
  24. last — final

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