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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: cell · chip · plane · spring · cold · present · hide · bore

  1. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  4. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  7. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  8. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  9. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  10. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  11. The ________________ took off on time.
  12. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  13. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  14. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  15. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  16. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  17. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  18. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  19. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  22. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  23. He was locked up in a ________________.
  24. There's a computer ________________ on the table.

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

Answer key

  1. bore — gave birth
  2. cold — not warm
  3. present — a gift
  4. plane — a tool
  5. cold — an illness
  6. spring — the season
  7. bore — to drill
  8. cell — a phone
  9. cell — in biology
  10. bore — to tire
  11. plane — an aircraft
  12. hide — to keep secret
  13. spring — of water
  14. hide — to keep secret
  15. spring — a coil
  16. hide — animal skin
  17. present — there
  18. plane — in geometry
  19. present — the time now
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. chip — for betting
  22. chip — to eat
  23. cell — in a prison
  24. chip — in a computer

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