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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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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: cap · chip · jam · wound · dip · bat · cell · spring

  1. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  2. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  3. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  4. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  5. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  6. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  7. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  8. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  9. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  10. He was locked up in a ________________.
  11. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  12. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  13. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  14. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  15. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  16. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  17. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  18. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  19. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  20. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  21. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  22. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  23. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  24. This looks like a gunshot ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. jam — a tight spot
  2. bat — the animal
  3. chip — in a computer
  4. spring — the season
  5. cap — a lid
  6. dip — to sink
  7. jam — in traffic
  8. dip — to dunk
  9. bat — for baseball
  10. cell — in a prison
  11. spring — a coil
  12. bat — in an idiom
  13. spring — of water
  14. dip — a sauce
  15. cap — a hat
  16. wound — an injury
  17. wound — past of 'wind'
  18. cap — of ice
  19. cell — a phone
  20. chip — to eat
  21. jam — to spread on bread
  22. chip — for betting
  23. cell — in biology
  24. wound — an injury

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