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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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  2. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  3. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  4. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  5. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  6. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  7. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  8. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  9. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  10. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  11. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  12. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  13. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  14. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  15. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  16. I'll be taking the ________________.
  17. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  18. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  19. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  20. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  21. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  22. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  23. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  24. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. content — the amount
  2. club — for golf
  3. spring — the season
  4. fan — a supporter
  5. perch — for a bird
  6. bat — for baseball
  7. perch — the fish
  8. net — in sport
  9. spring — of water
  10. content — happy
  11. perch — for a bird
  12. club — a group
  13. fan — a supporter
  14. fan — to cool the air
  15. tube — in a tire
  16. tube — the underground
  17. bat — the animal
  18. bat — in an idiom
  19. spring — a coil
  20. net — after costs
  21. net — for catching
  22. tube — a container
  23. club — for dancing
  24. content — videos and posts

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