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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. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  2. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  3. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  4. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  5. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  6. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  7. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  8. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  9. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  10. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  11. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  12. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  13. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  14. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  15. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  16. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  17. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  18. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  19. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  20. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  21. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  22. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  23. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  24. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.

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

Answer key

  1. can — a tin
  2. track — a song
  3. hand — help
  4. spring — the season
  5. degree — an amount
  6. lash — a whip stroke
  7. hand — in cards
  8. hand — part of the body
  9. degree — from a university
  10. track — to keep track
  11. can — to be able to
  12. drill — a practice
  13. spring — a coil
  14. can — a tin
  15. content — videos and posts
  16. spring — of water
  17. drill — army training
  18. track — a path
  19. degree — temperature
  20. content — happy
  21. drill — the tool
  22. lash — an eyelash
  23. content — the amount
  24. lash — to lash out

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