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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 116 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: safe · mine · bat · rock · spring · object · rest · tear

  1. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  2. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  3. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  4. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  5. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  6. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  7. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  8. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  9. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  10. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  11. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  12. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  13. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  14. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  15. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  16. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  17. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  18. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  19. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  20. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  21. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  22. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  23. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  24. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.

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

Answer key

  1. safe — out of danger
  2. spring — a coil
  3. object — an aim
  4. bat — for baseball
  5. rock — to move gently
  6. bat — the animal
  7. rest — a break
  8. spring — of water
  9. mine — an explosive
  10. spring — the season
  11. object — a thing
  12. object — to protest
  13. tear — to rip
  14. mine — for digging
  15. rest — what's left
  16. rock — music
  17. safe — out of danger
  18. tear — from crying
  19. rock — a stone
  20. mine — belonging to me
  21. tear — from crying
  22. safe — a strongbox
  23. rest — what's left
  24. bat — in an idiom

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