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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
468
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: spring · bulb · kid · tear · bat · mark · field · ball

  1. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  2. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  3. The King held a masked ________________.
  4. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  5. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  6. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  7. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  8. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  9. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  10. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  11. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  12. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  13. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  14. The light ________________ burned out.
  15. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  16. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  17. I've got to change the light ________________.
  18. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  19. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  20. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  21. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  22. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  23. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  24. The kitten curled into a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mark — a grade
  2. tear — from crying
  3. ball — a dance
  4. ball — a great time
  5. field — for sport
  6. tear — to rip
  7. kid — child
  8. kid — to tease
  9. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  10. bat — in an idiom
  11. mark — to pay attention
  12. spring — a coil
  13. bulb — of a plant
  14. bulb — for light
  15. field — a subject
  16. tear — from crying
  17. bulb — for light
  18. spring — of water
  19. bat — the animal
  20. mark — a trace
  21. spring — the season
  22. bat — for baseball
  23. field — farmland
  24. ball — a round shape

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