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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: spring · straw · bat · pound · lie · tube · court · cap

  1. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  2. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  3. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  4. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  5. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  6. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  7. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  8. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  9. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  10. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  11. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  12. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  13. I'll be taking the ________________.
  14. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  15. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  16. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  17. The ball is in your ________________.
  18. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  19. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  20. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  21. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  22. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  23. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  24. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — dry grass
  2. cap — of ice
  3. bat — in an idiom
  4. spring — the season
  5. pound — to hit hard
  6. lie — to recline
  7. cap — a lid
  8. straw — to clutch at straws
  9. court — of a king
  10. lie — an untruth
  11. straw — a straw man
  12. lie — an untruth
  13. tube — the underground
  14. pound — a weight
  15. bat — for baseball
  16. cap — a hat
  17. court — for sport
  18. tube — a container
  19. tube — in a tire
  20. pound — for dogs
  21. bat — the animal
  22. spring — a coil
  23. court — of law
  24. spring — of water

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