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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 · wound · roll · bat · object · chair · sharp · spell

  1. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  2. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  3. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  4. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  5. It's one o'clock ________________.
  6. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  7. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  8. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  9. We're on a ________________ here.
  10. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  11. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  12. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  13. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  14. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  15. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  16. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  17. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  18. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  19. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  20. How do you ________________ your surname?
  21. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  22. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  23. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  24. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — the season
  2. spring — of water
  3. wound — an injury
  4. chair — a leader
  5. sharp — exactly
  6. chair — a professorship
  7. object — a thing
  8. object — an aim
  9. roll — on a roll
  10. bat — for baseball
  11. chair — to sit on
  12. spring — a coil
  13. object — to protest
  14. wound — an injury
  15. bat — in an idiom
  16. roll — a cake
  17. spell — a short time
  18. spell — magic
  19. sharp — with an edge
  20. spell — letters
  21. roll — a list
  22. sharp — clever
  23. wound — past of 'wind'
  24. bat — the animal

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