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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: ground · band · dip · spring · wound · rock · tear · chest

  1. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  2. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  3. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  4. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  5. There's no middle ________________.
  6. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  7. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  8. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  9. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  10. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  11. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  12. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  13. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  14. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  15. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  16. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  17. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  18. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  19. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  20. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  21. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  22. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  23. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  24. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — a box
  2. tear — to rip
  3. rock — to move gently
  4. ground — crushed
  5. ground — a position
  6. spring — a coil
  7. wound — an injury
  8. band — a rubber band
  9. dip — a sauce
  10. spring — of water
  11. wound — an injury
  12. tear — from crying
  13. rock — a stone
  14. chest — of your body
  15. rock — music
  16. spring — the season
  17. wound — past of 'wind'
  18. ground — the earth
  19. chest — of your body
  20. band — a music group
  21. dip — to dunk
  22. band — a ring
  23. tear — from crying
  24. dip — to sink

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