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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. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  2. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  3. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  4. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  5. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  6. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  7. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  8. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  9. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  10. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  11. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  12. Have you found your soul ________________?
  13. You don't need to ________________ round.
  14. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  15. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  16. He is an ace ________________.
  17. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  18. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  19. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  20. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  21. We're almost out of ________________.
  22. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  23. It's one o'clock ________________.
  24. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — of water
  2. sharp — with an edge
  3. sharp — clever
  4. dip — a sauce
  5. content — happy
  6. pitcher — a jug
  7. prune — the fruit
  8. pop — music
  9. pitcher — a jug
  10. spring — a coil
  11. spring — the season
  12. mate — a partner
  13. pop — to visit
  14. content — videos and posts
  15. mate — a friend
  16. pitcher — in baseball
  17. content — the amount
  18. dip — to dunk
  19. prune — to trim
  20. mate — to breed
  21. pop — soda
  22. dip — to sink
  23. sharp — exactly
  24. prune — to trim

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