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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: perch · jam · band · rest · chip · spring · drill · cold

  1. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  2. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  3. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  4. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  5. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  6. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  7. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  8. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  9. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  10. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  11. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  12. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  13. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  14. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  17. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  20. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  21. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  22. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  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. drill — a practice
  2. chip — to eat
  3. jam — in traffic
  4. rest — what's left
  5. spring — a coil
  6. drill — the tool
  7. jam — to spread on bread
  8. rest — what's left
  9. band — a music group
  10. band — a rubber band
  11. perch — for a bird
  12. spring — of water
  13. chip — for betting
  14. band — a ring
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. drill — army training
  17. chip — in a computer
  18. cold — not warm
  19. perch — for a bird
  20. rest — a break
  21. spring — the season
  22. jam — a tight spot
  23. cold — an illness
  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