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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: spring · pound · march · saw · perch · bat · kid · deal

  1. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  2. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  3. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  4. He works in a ________________ mill.
  5. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  6. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  7. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  8. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  9. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  10. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  11. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  12. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  13. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  14. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  15. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  16. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  17. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  18. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  19. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  20. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  21. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  22. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  23. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  24. She's very handy with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — in an idiom
  2. deal — an agreement
  3. spring — the season
  4. saw — the tool
  5. march — the month
  6. pound — to hit hard
  7. kid — to tease
  8. deal — a big deal
  9. perch — the fish
  10. saw — past of 'see'
  11. deal — to handle
  12. pound — for dogs
  13. march — the month
  14. spring — of water
  15. perch — for a bird
  16. kid — child
  17. march — music
  18. bat — for baseball
  19. bat — the animal
  20. pound — a weight
  21. perch — for a bird
  22. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  23. spring — a coil
  24. saw — the tool

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