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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: land · wind · spring · tear · season · bowl · key · chip

  1. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  2. This piece is in a major ________________.
  3. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  4. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  5. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  6. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  7. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  8. When are we going to ________________?
  9. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  10. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  11. Did you ________________ the meat?
  12. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  13. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  14. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  15. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  16. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  17. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  18. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  19. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  20. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  21. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  22. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  23. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  24. Hard work is the ________________ to success.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a dish
  2. key — in music
  3. spring — a coil
  4. tear — from crying
  5. bowl — a football final
  6. chip — for betting
  7. wind — moving air
  8. land — to come down
  9. bowl — to roll
  10. season — of the year
  11. season — to add flavour
  12. spring — of water
  13. chip — to eat
  14. tear — to rip
  15. key — for a lock
  16. land — ground
  17. wind — moving air
  18. chip — in a computer
  19. wind — to turn a key
  20. land — a country
  21. spring — the season
  22. season — in sport
  23. tear — from crying
  24. key — the most important part

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