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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: tear · bore · face · mine · spring · branch · ball · bat

  1. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  2. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  3. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  4. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  5. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  6. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  7. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  8. The King held a masked ________________.
  9. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  10. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  11. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  12. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  13. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  14. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  15. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  16. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  17. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  18. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  19. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  20. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  21. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  22. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  23. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  24. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. bat — the animal
  3. spring — a coil
  4. tear — from crying
  5. branch — of a bank
  6. spring — of water
  7. face — to point toward
  8. ball — a dance
  9. mine — an explosive
  10. spring — the season
  11. bat — for baseball
  12. mine — belonging to me
  13. branch — of a tree
  14. bat — in an idiom
  15. branch — a division
  16. ball — a round shape
  17. bore — to drill
  18. face — to confront
  19. ball — a great time
  20. mine — for digging
  21. face — part of the head
  22. bore — to tire
  23. bore — gave birth
  24. tear — to rip

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