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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: bark · nail · bat · cold · spring · ball · rush · object

  1. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  2. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  3. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  4. The ________________ went through the wall.
  5. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  6. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  7. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  14. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  15. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  16. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  17. The King held a masked ________________.
  18. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  19. That must've been a ________________.
  20. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  21. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  22. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  23. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  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. ball — a round shape
  2. nail — on a finger
  3. object — to protest
  4. nail — for a hammer
  5. bat — the animal
  6. object — an aim
  7. bat — for baseball
  8. cold — not warm
  9. nail — for a hammer
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. rush — hurry
  12. cold — an illness
  13. rush — to hurry
  14. bark — a dog's sound
  15. spring — of water
  16. bark — to shout
  17. ball — a dance
  18. ball — a great time
  19. rush — a thrill
  20. spring — the season
  21. bark — of a tree
  22. spring — a coil
  23. object — a thing
  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