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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: mate · spring · sharp · bear · chair · bore · bat · tear

  1. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  2. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  3. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  4. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  5. It's one o'clock ________________.
  6. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  7. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  8. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  9. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  10. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  11. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  12. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  13. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  14. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  15. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  16. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  17. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  18. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  19. Have you found your soul ________________?
  20. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  21. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  22. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  23. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  24. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — with an edge
  2. mate — to breed
  3. bat — for baseball
  4. tear — from crying
  5. sharp — exactly
  6. mate — a friend
  7. bore — to drill
  8. tear — from crying
  9. chair — a professorship
  10. bore — gave birth
  11. sharp — clever
  12. bat — in an idiom
  13. spring — the season
  14. bat — the animal
  15. chair — a leader
  16. tear — to rip
  17. chair — to sit on
  18. bear — to put up with
  19. mate — a partner
  20. bear — the animal
  21. spring — of water
  22. bore — to tire
  23. bear — the animal
  24. spring — a coil

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