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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 116 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: wave · mine · chip · perch · spring · bat · present · tear

  1. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  2. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  3. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  4. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  5. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  6. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  7. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  8. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  9. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  10. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  11. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  12. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  13. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  14. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  15. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  16. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  17. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  18. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  19. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  20. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  21. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  22. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  23. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  24. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — for digging
  2. bat — for baseball
  3. wave — a sudden rise
  4. perch — the fish
  5. spring — a coil
  6. tear — from crying
  7. tear — from crying
  8. present — the time now
  9. chip — in a computer
  10. perch — for a bird
  11. tear — to rip
  12. wave — with your hand
  13. bat — the animal
  14. perch — for a bird
  15. mine — belonging to me
  16. mine — an explosive
  17. chip — for betting
  18. spring — the season
  19. chip — to eat
  20. bat — in an idiom
  21. wave — of the sea
  22. present — a gift
  23. present — there
  24. spring — of water

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