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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. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  3. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  4. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  5. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  6. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  7. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  8. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  9. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  10. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  11. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  12. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  13. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  14. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  15. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  16. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  17. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  18. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  19. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  20. That was ________________ to happen.
  21. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  22. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  23. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  24. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — of water
  2. spring — a coil
  3. degree — from a university
  4. content — videos and posts
  5. content — happy
  6. present — the time now
  7. spring — the season
  8. bound — tied together
  9. wax — for sculpting
  10. content — the amount
  11. wax — to grow
  12. wound — past of 'wind'
  13. toast — bread
  14. wax — in the ear
  15. wound — an injury
  16. toast — the most admired
  17. present — a gift
  18. bound — obliged
  19. degree — temperature
  20. bound — certain
  21. present — there
  22. degree — an amount
  23. wound — an injury
  24. toast — a drink to someone

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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