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

  1. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  2. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  3. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  4. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  5. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  6. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  7. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  8. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  9. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  10. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  11. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  12. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  13. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  14. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  15. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  16. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  17. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  18. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  19. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  20. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  21. The ________________ market has crashed.
  22. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  23. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  24. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — the sport
  2. spring — a coil
  3. scale — for weighing
  4. content — videos and posts
  5. shower — to wash
  6. rest — what's left
  7. object — a thing
  8. rest — what's left
  9. spring — the season
  10. content — happy
  11. scale — in music
  12. squash — the vegetable
  13. stock — goods
  14. shower — rain
  15. spring — of water
  16. stock — a soup base
  17. scale — size or range
  18. shower — a meteor shower
  19. object — to protest
  20. squash — to crush
  21. stock — shares
  22. rest — a break
  23. content — the amount
  24. object — an aim

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