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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: last · chip · cell · bound · spring · chest · lean · mine

  1. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  2. He was locked up in a ________________.
  3. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  4. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  5. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  6. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  7. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  8. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  9. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  10. False peace will not ________________.
  11. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  12. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  13. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  14. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  15. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  16. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  17. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  18. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  19. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  20. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  21. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  22. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  23. That was ________________ to happen.
  24. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.

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

Answer key

  1. last — final
  2. cell — in a prison
  3. chest — a box
  4. spring — of water
  5. lean — to bend
  6. lean — thin
  7. chip — in a computer
  8. chip — to eat
  9. chest — of your body
  10. last — to go on
  11. mine — for digging
  12. mine — an explosive
  13. chest — of your body
  14. spring — a coil
  15. bound — obliged
  16. cell — a phone
  17. spring — the season
  18. cell — in biology
  19. last — finally
  20. lean — to rest against
  21. bound — tied together
  22. chip — for betting
  23. bound — certain
  24. mine — belonging to me

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