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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. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  3. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  4. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  5. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  6. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  7. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  8. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  9. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  10. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  11. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  12. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  13. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  14. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  15. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  16. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  17. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  18. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  19. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  20. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  21. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  22. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  23. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  24. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — a coil
  2. wake — to stop sleeping
  3. pass — to succeed
  4. pass — to spend time
  5. content — the amount
  6. bat — for baseball
  7. scale — size or range
  8. pass — a permit
  9. file — a line of people
  10. spring — the season
  11. wake — a trail
  12. root — of a plant
  13. scale — in music
  14. root — the cause
  15. file — a document
  16. spring — of water
  17. wake — before a funeral
  18. scale — for weighing
  19. root — of a word
  20. bat — in an idiom
  21. file — a tool
  22. content — videos and posts
  23. content — happy
  24. bat — the animal

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