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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. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  2. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  3. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  4. Don't do anything ________________.
  5. My mare is ________________ in color.
  6. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  7. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  8. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  9. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  10. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  11. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  12. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  15. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  16. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  17. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  18. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  19. The ball is in your ________________.
  20. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  21. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  22. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  23. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  24. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.

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

Answer key

  1. rash — a series
  2. rash — on the skin
  3. content — happy
  4. rash — hasty
  5. bay — a horse colour
  6. spring — the season
  7. present — a gift
  8. content — the amount
  9. present — the time now
  10. present — there
  11. bay — a part of the sea
  12. content — videos and posts
  13. clip — a video
  14. court — of a king
  15. spring — a coil
  16. drill — a practice
  17. drill — army training
  18. spring — of water
  19. court — for sport
  20. clip — for paper
  21. court — of law
  22. bay — to keep at bay
  23. drill — the tool
  24. clip — to cut

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