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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: tear · perch · mine · chair · arm · spring · vault · pitcher

  1. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  2. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  3. He is an ace ________________.
  4. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  5. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  6. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  7. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  8. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  9. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  10. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  11. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  12. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  13. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  14. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  15. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  16. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  17. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  18. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  19. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  20. My father caught me by the ________________.
  21. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  22. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  23. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  24. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.

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

Answer key

  1. perch — the fish
  2. spring — of water
  3. pitcher — in baseball
  4. vault — a safe
  5. chair — a leader
  6. perch — for a bird
  7. perch — for a bird
  8. pitcher — a jug
  9. mine — belonging to me
  10. chair — a professorship
  11. spring — a coil
  12. arm — part of the body
  13. vault — in gymnastics
  14. mine — for digging
  15. arm — a part of something
  16. tear — from crying
  17. chair — to sit on
  18. mine — an explosive
  19. spring — the season
  20. arm — part of the body
  21. vault — an arched ceiling
  22. tear — from crying
  23. tear — to rip
  24. pitcher — a jug

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