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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. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  3. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  4. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  5. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  6. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  7. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  8. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  9. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  10. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  11. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  12. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  13. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  14. That was a fun ________________.
  15. We're on a ________________ here.
  16. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  17. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  18. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  19. Have you settled on a ________________?
  20. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  21. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  22. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  23. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  24. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — a coil
  2. content — the amount
  3. deal — an agreement
  4. date — on the calendar
  5. game — a kind of play
  6. deal — to handle
  7. bark — of a tree
  8. date — the fruit
  9. bark — a dog's sound
  10. dip — a sauce
  11. spring — of water
  12. roll — a cake
  13. content — happy
  14. game — a match
  15. roll — on a roll
  16. deal — a big deal
  17. spring — the season
  18. content — videos and posts
  19. date — on the calendar
  20. game — wild animals
  21. bark — to shout
  22. dip — to dunk
  23. roll — a list
  24. dip — to sink

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