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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. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  3. The ________________ market has crashed.
  4. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  5. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  6. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  7. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  8. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  9. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  10. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  11. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  12. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  13. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  14. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  15. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  16. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  17. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  18. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  19. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  20. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  21. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  22. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  23. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  24. He had ________________ pain while walking.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. spring — the season
  3. stock — shares
  4. hand — help
  5. stock — goods
  6. rest — what's left
  7. calf — a young animal
  8. content — the amount
  9. stock — a soup base
  10. spring — of water
  11. spring — a coil
  12. rest — a break
  13. rest — what's left
  14. hand — part of the body
  15. pass — to succeed
  16. hand — in cards
  17. pass — to spend time
  18. net — for catching
  19. content — videos and posts
  20. net — in sport
  21. net — after costs
  22. pass — a permit
  23. calf — a young animal
  24. calf — of the leg

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