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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: spring · chip · chest · scale · last · racket · mine · board

  1. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  2. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  3. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  4. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  5. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  6. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  7. False peace will not ________________.
  8. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  9. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  10. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  11. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  12. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  13. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  14. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  15. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  16. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  17. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  18. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  19. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  20. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  21. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  22. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  23. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  24. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. last — final
  2. spring — the season
  3. racket — for tennis
  4. racket — a loud noise
  5. mine — belonging to me
  6. board — a flat piece
  7. last — to go on
  8. spring — of water
  9. mine — an explosive
  10. chest — of your body
  11. chip — for betting
  12. chip — in a computer
  13. spring — a coil
  14. mine — for digging
  15. scale — in music
  16. chip — to eat
  17. last — finally
  18. board — a committee
  19. board — to get on
  20. chest — a box
  21. racket — for tennis
  22. scale — for weighing
  23. chest — of your body
  24. scale — size or range

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