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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 120 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
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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: perch · mine · game · wave · clip · spring · rest · chip

  1. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  2. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  3. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  4. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  5. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  6. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  7. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  8. That was a fun ________________.
  9. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  10. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  13. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  14. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  15. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  16. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  17. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  18. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  19. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  20. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  21. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  22. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  23. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  24. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.

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

Answer key

  1. rest — what's left
  2. clip — to cut
  3. game — wild animals
  4. mine — for digging
  5. rest — what's left
  6. spring — the season
  7. perch — for a bird
  8. game — a match
  9. rest — a break
  10. game — a kind of play
  11. clip — a video
  12. chip — to eat
  13. wave — with your hand
  14. mine — an explosive
  15. spring — of water
  16. wave — a sudden rise
  17. spring — a coil
  18. wave — of the sea
  19. clip — for paper
  20. perch — for a bird
  21. mine — belonging to me
  22. chip — for betting
  23. chip — in a computer
  24. perch — the fish

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