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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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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: chip · bat · tear · saw · spring · root · object · chest

  1. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  2. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  3. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  4. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  5. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  6. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  7. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  8. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  9. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  10. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  11. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  12. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  13. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  14. She's very handy with a ________________.
  15. He works in a ________________ mill.
  16. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  17. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  18. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  19. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  20. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  21. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  22. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  23. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  24. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. object — a thing
  2. root — of a plant
  3. root — of a word
  4. spring — a coil
  5. chest — of your body
  6. object — to protest
  7. bat — for baseball
  8. tear — from crying
  9. tear — from crying
  10. chest — a box
  11. tear — to rip
  12. bat — the animal
  13. spring — the season
  14. saw — the tool
  15. saw — the tool
  16. chip — to eat
  17. chip — in a computer
  18. object — an aim
  19. root — the cause
  20. saw — past of 'see'
  21. chip — for betting
  22. bat — in an idiom
  23. chest — of your body
  24. spring — of water

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