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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: sharp · band · last · spring · chip · hide · bear · bat

  1. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  2. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  3. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  4. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  5. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  6. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  7. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  8. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  9. False peace will not ________________.
  10. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  11. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  12. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  13. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  14. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  15. It's one o'clock ________________.
  16. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  17. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  18. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  19. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  20. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  21. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  22. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  23. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  24. A black ________________ roamed the forest.

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

Answer key

  1. hide — animal skin
  2. spring — a coil
  3. sharp — clever
  4. bat — the animal
  5. hide — to keep secret
  6. band — a music group
  7. sharp — with an edge
  8. bear — to put up with
  9. last — to go on
  10. band — a ring
  11. bat — in an idiom
  12. hide — to keep secret
  13. last — final
  14. last — finally
  15. sharp — exactly
  16. chip — to eat
  17. spring — the season
  18. bat — for baseball
  19. bear — the animal
  20. spring — of water
  21. chip — for betting
  22. band — a rubber band
  23. chip — in a computer
  24. bear — the animal

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