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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. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  3. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  4. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  5. I'll be taking the ________________.
  6. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  7. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  8. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  9. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  10. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  11. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  12. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  13. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  14. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  15. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  16. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  17. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  18. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  19. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  20. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  21. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  22. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  23. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  24. The ________________ change colour in autumn.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. mine — for digging
  3. leaves — lets stay
  4. row — a line
  5. tube — the underground
  6. spring — the season
  7. root — of a plant
  8. mine — an explosive
  9. tube — in a tire
  10. leaves — to go away
  11. mine — belonging to me
  12. root — of a word
  13. current — happening now
  14. root — the cause
  15. spring — a coil
  16. content — videos and posts
  17. spring — of water
  18. current — electric
  19. row — to paddle
  20. content — the amount
  21. row — a quarrel
  22. current — of water
  23. tube — a container
  24. leaves — of a tree

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