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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: straw · spring · pitcher · leaves · mine · saw · temple · bat

  1. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  2. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  3. He is an ace ________________.
  4. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  5. She's very handy with a ________________.
  6. When was this ________________ built?
  7. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  8. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  9. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  10. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  11. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  12. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  13. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  14. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  15. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  16. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  17. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  18. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  19. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  20. He works in a ________________ mill.
  21. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  22. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  23. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  24. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. mine — for digging
  3. pitcher — in baseball
  4. bat — the animal
  5. saw — the tool
  6. temple — a place of worship
  7. spring — of water
  8. pitcher — a jug
  9. straw — to clutch at straws
  10. spring — a coil
  11. straw — dry grass
  12. spring — the season
  13. bat — in an idiom
  14. leaves — to go away
  15. leaves — of a tree
  16. temple — side of the head
  17. bat — for baseball
  18. straw — a straw man
  19. mine — an explosive
  20. saw — the tool
  21. mine — belonging to me
  22. saw — past of 'see'
  23. temple — a place of worship
  24. leaves — lets stay

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