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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. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  2. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  3. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  4. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  5. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  6. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  7. There's no middle ________________.
  8. Did you ________________ the meat?
  9. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  10. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  11. Have you settled on a ________________?
  12. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  13. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  14. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  15. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  16. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  17. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  18. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  19. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  20. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  21. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  22. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  23. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  24. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.

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

Answer key

  1. content — the amount
  2. season — in sport
  3. object — to protest
  4. spring — a coil
  5. spring — of water
  6. hand — in cards
  7. ground — a position
  8. season — to add flavour
  9. ground — crushed
  10. object — an aim
  11. date — on the calendar
  12. racket — a loud noise
  13. ground — the earth
  14. content — happy
  15. season — of the year
  16. hand — part of the body
  17. spring — the season
  18. date — on the calendar
  19. hand — help
  20. racket — for tennis
  21. racket — for tennis
  22. object — a thing
  23. content — videos and posts
  24. date — the fruit

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