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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.

Words on the sheet
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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: roll · tube · spring · season · stock · chest · fan · bat

  1. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  2. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  3. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  4. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  5. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  6. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  7. The ________________ market has crashed.
  8. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  9. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  10. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  11. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  12. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  13. Did you ________________ the meat?
  14. We're on a ________________ here.
  15. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  16. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  17. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  18. I'll be taking the ________________.
  19. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  20. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  21. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  22. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  23. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  24. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — a coil
  2. tube — in a tire
  3. chest — of your body
  4. fan — a supporter
  5. season — of the year
  6. roll — a cake
  7. stock — shares
  8. bat — in an idiom
  9. stock — a soup base
  10. tube — a container
  11. chest — of your body
  12. spring — the season
  13. season — to add flavour
  14. roll — on a roll
  15. season — in sport
  16. chest — a box
  17. fan — to cool the air
  18. tube — the underground
  19. bat — for baseball
  20. fan — a supporter
  21. bat — the animal
  22. spring — of water
  23. stock — goods
  24. roll — a list

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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