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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: wind · rule · tear · spring · bark · fine · lean · ball

  1. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  2. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  3. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  4. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  5. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  6. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  7. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  8. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  9. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  10. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  11. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  12. The King held a masked ________________.
  13. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  14. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  15. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  16. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  17. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  18. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  19. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  20. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  21. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  22. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  23. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  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. fine — high quality
  2. wind — moving air
  3. spring — the season
  4. ball — a round shape
  5. tear — from crying
  6. ball — a great time
  7. wind — moving air
  8. lean — thin
  9. lean — to bend
  10. fine — a penalty
  11. bark — to shout
  12. ball — a dance
  13. fine — all right
  14. wind — to turn a key
  15. tear — to rip
  16. bark — of a tree
  17. rule — government
  18. bark — a dog's sound
  19. rule — to rule out
  20. rule — a law
  21. lean — to rest against
  22. spring — a coil
  23. tear — from crying
  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