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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: roll · cap · chip · wind · spring · mate · wave · chest

  1. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  2. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  3. Have you found your soul ________________?
  4. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  5. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  6. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  7. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  8. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  9. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  10. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  11. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  12. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  13. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  14. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  15. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  16. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  17. We're on a ________________ here.
  18. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  19. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  20. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  21. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  22. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  23. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  24. The flowers bloom in the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — to breed
  2. chest — of your body
  3. mate — a partner
  4. chip — in a computer
  5. wind — moving air
  6. cap — a hat
  7. chest — a box
  8. chip — to eat
  9. spring — a coil
  10. cap — of ice
  11. wave — a sudden rise
  12. spring — of water
  13. mate — a friend
  14. wind — to turn a key
  15. wind — moving air
  16. cap — a lid
  17. roll — on a roll
  18. roll — a list
  19. chip — for betting
  20. roll — a cake
  21. wave — with your hand
  22. wave — of the sea
  23. chest — of your body
  24. spring — the season

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