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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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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: wound · perch · tear · lean · bat · spring · firm · sharp

  1. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  2. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  3. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  4. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  5. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  6. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  7. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  8. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  9. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  10. It's one o'clock ________________.
  11. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  12. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  13. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  14. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  15. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  16. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  17. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  18. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  19. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  20. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  21. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  22. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  23. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  24. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — of water
  2. bat — the animal
  3. firm — a company
  4. sharp — with an edge
  5. perch — for a bird
  6. wound — an injury
  7. tear — from crying
  8. tear — from crying
  9. lean — to rest against
  10. sharp — exactly
  11. firm — steady
  12. firm — decided
  13. spring — the season
  14. perch — the fish
  15. wound — an injury
  16. sharp — clever
  17. bat — for baseball
  18. bat — in an idiom
  19. lean — to bend
  20. lean — thin
  21. wound — past of 'wind'
  22. tear — to rip
  23. spring — a coil
  24. perch — for a bird

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