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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: chest · leaves · stick · ball · wind · spring · tear · tube

  1. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  2. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  3. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  4. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  5. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  6. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  7. The King held a masked ________________.
  8. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  9. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  10. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  11. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  12. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  13. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  14. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  15. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  16. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  17. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  18. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  19. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  20. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  21. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  22. I'll be taking the ________________.
  23. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  24. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — to rip
  2. leaves — to go away
  3. tube — in a tire
  4. chest — a box
  5. chest — of your body
  6. ball — a round shape
  7. ball — a dance
  8. ball — a great time
  9. wind — to turn a key
  10. tube — a container
  11. spring — the season
  12. leaves — of a tree
  13. spring — of water
  14. wind — moving air
  15. tear — from crying
  16. stick — a piece of wood
  17. leaves — lets stay
  18. stick — to attach or keep to
  19. spring — a coil
  20. tear — from crying
  21. wind — moving air
  22. tube — the underground
  23. stick — a piece of wood
  24. chest — of your body

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