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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: ball · spring · safe · bat · wake · net · spell · clip

  1. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  2. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  3. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  4. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  5. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  6. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  7. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  8. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  9. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  10. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  11. The King held a masked ________________.
  12. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  13. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. How do you ________________ your surname?
  18. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  19. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  20. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  21. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  22. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  23. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  24. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — the season
  2. safe — out of danger
  3. bat — in an idiom
  4. spring — of water
  5. spell — a short time
  6. bat — for baseball
  7. net — after costs
  8. spell — magic
  9. net — for catching
  10. safe — out of danger
  11. ball — a dance
  12. spring — a coil
  13. wake — to stop sleeping
  14. clip — to cut
  15. net — in sport
  16. clip — for paper
  17. spell — letters
  18. clip — a video
  19. bat — the animal
  20. ball — a round shape
  21. wake — a trail
  22. safe — a strongbox
  23. wake — before a funeral
  24. ball — a great time

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