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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.

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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: bowl · spring · rest · tear · temple · lash · cell · track

  1. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  2. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  3. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  4. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  5. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  6. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  7. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  8. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  9. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  10. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  11. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  12. When was this ________________ built?
  13. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  14. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  15. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  16. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  17. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  18. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  19. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  20. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  21. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  22. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  23. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  24. He was locked up in a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a dish
  2. spring — the season
  3. spring — a coil
  4. track — to keep track
  5. lash — to lash out
  6. tear — from crying
  7. tear — from crying
  8. lash — a whip stroke
  9. rest — what's left
  10. temple — side of the head
  11. lash — an eyelash
  12. temple — a place of worship
  13. rest — a break
  14. temple — a place of worship
  15. rest — what's left
  16. spring — of water
  17. cell — in biology
  18. bowl — to roll
  19. bowl — a football final
  20. tear — to rip
  21. track — a song
  22. cell — a phone
  23. track — a path
  24. cell — in a prison

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