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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 · bat · temple · wind · hand · spring · content · march

  1. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  2. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  3. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  4. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  5. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  6. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  7. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  8. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  9. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  10. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  11. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  12. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  13. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  14. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  15. When was this ________________ built?
  16. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  17. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  18. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  19. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  20. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  21. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  22. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  23. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  24. Check the label for the sugar ________________.

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. bear — the animal
  4. bat — for baseball
  5. content — happy
  6. march — music
  7. march — the month
  8. content — videos and posts
  9. temple — a place of worship
  10. bat — in an idiom
  11. wind — moving air
  12. hand — part of the body
  13. temple — side of the head
  14. bear — to put up with
  15. temple — a place of worship
  16. bat — the animal
  17. spring — of water
  18. bear — the animal
  19. wind — to turn a key
  20. march — the month
  21. hand — in cards
  22. spring — the season
  23. hand — help
  24. content — the amount

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