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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. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  2. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  3. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  4. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  5. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  6. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  7. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  8. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  9. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  10. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  11. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  12. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  13. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  14. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  15. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  16. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  17. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  18. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  19. Did you ________________ the meat?
  20. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  21. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  22. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  23. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  24. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — a coil
  2. lean — to bend
  3. lean — thin
  4. spring — the season
  5. content — happy
  6. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  7. can — to be able to
  8. dip — to dunk
  9. season — in sport
  10. season — of the year
  11. can — a tin
  12. spring — of water
  13. kid — to tease
  14. dip — a sauce
  15. kid — child
  16. can — a tin
  17. pound — to hit hard
  18. content — the amount
  19. season — to add flavour
  20. dip — to sink
  21. pound — a weight
  22. lean — to rest against
  23. content — videos and posts
  24. pound — for dogs

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