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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: kid · perch · chest · content · present · spring · mark · ground

  1. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  2. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  3. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  4. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  5. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  6. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  7. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  8. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  9. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  10. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  11. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  12. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  13. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  14. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  15. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  16. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  17. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  18. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  19. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  20. There's no middle ________________.
  21. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  22. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  23. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  24. She got the top ________________ in the exam.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — of water
  2. kid — child
  3. ground — crushed
  4. chest — of your body
  5. present — there
  6. present — the time now
  7. mark — a trace
  8. content — the amount
  9. kid — to tease
  10. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  11. content — videos and posts
  12. spring — a coil
  13. content — happy
  14. chest — of your body
  15. chest — a box
  16. present — a gift
  17. perch — the fish
  18. ground — the earth
  19. perch — for a bird
  20. ground — a position
  21. spring — the season
  22. perch — for a bird
  23. mark — to pay attention
  24. mark — a grade

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