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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 116 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 · cell · bat · chip · bass · tear · fork · fan

  1. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  2. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  3. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  4. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  5. He was locked up in a ________________.
  6. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  7. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  8. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  9. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  10. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  11. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  12. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  13. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  14. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  15. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  16. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  17. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  18. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  19. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  20. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  21. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  22. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  23. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  24. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.

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

Answer key

  1. fork — a garden tool
  2. tear — from crying
  3. tear — from crying
  4. spring — the season
  5. cell — in a prison
  6. cell — a phone
  7. bass — the instrument
  8. bass — the fish
  9. fan — a supporter
  10. tear — to rip
  11. bat — for baseball
  12. bat — in an idiom
  13. fan — a supporter
  14. bass — low music
  15. spring — a coil
  16. bat — the animal
  17. chip — to eat
  18. spring — of water
  19. fan — to cool the air
  20. cell — in biology
  21. fork — in a road
  22. chip — in a computer
  23. chip — for betting
  24. fork — to eat with

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