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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 120 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: present · wound · straw · spring · wind · mine · bore · bear

  1. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  2. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  3. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  4. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  5. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  6. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  7. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  8. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  9. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  10. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  11. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  12. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  13. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  14. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  15. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  16. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  17. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  18. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  19. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  20. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  21. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  22. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  23. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  24. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. straw — a straw man
  3. straw — dry grass
  4. bear — the animal
  5. present — a gift
  6. mine — an explosive
  7. bear — the animal
  8. spring — the season
  9. present — there
  10. mine — belonging to me
  11. present — the time now
  12. wind — moving air
  13. wind — to turn a key
  14. spring — a coil
  15. mine — for digging
  16. wound — past of 'wind'
  17. wound — an injury
  18. straw — to clutch at straws
  19. spring — of water
  20. bore — gave birth
  21. bore — to drill
  22. bore — to tire
  23. wound — an injury
  24. bear — to put up with

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