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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. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  3. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  4. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  5. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  8. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  9. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  10. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  11. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  12. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  13. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  14. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  17. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  18. Don't do anything ________________.
  19. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  20. Have you met the new head ________________?
  21. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  22. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — of water
  2. coach — a trainer
  3. bowl — a dish
  4. race — humankind
  5. spring — the season
  6. cold — not warm
  7. safe — out of danger
  8. spring — a coil
  9. rash — on the skin
  10. coach — pulled by horses
  11. safe — a strongbox
  12. safe — out of danger
  13. bowl — a football final
  14. content — happy
  15. cold — an illness
  16. bowl — to roll
  17. rash — a series
  18. rash — hasty
  19. content — the amount
  20. coach — a trainer
  21. race — the arms race
  22. content — videos and posts
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. race — a contest

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