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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. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  2. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  3. It's one o'clock ________________.
  4. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  5. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  6. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  7. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  8. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  9. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  10. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  11. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  12. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  13. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  14. I'll be taking the ________________.
  15. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  16. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  17. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  18. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  19. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  20. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  21. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  22. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  23. My father caught me by the ________________.
  24. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — a coil
  2. content — happy
  3. sharp — exactly
  4. leaves — of a tree
  5. spring — of water
  6. pitch — a sales talk
  7. arm — part of the body
  8. kid — to tease
  9. sharp — clever
  10. pitch — a sports field
  11. sharp — with an edge
  12. spring — the season
  13. tube — a container
  14. tube — the underground
  15. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  16. arm — a part of something
  17. leaves — lets stay
  18. content — the amount
  19. kid — child
  20. tube — in a tire
  21. leaves — to go away
  22. content — videos and posts
  23. arm — part of the body
  24. pitch — completely

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