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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. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  2. Have you found your soul ________________?
  3. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  4. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  5. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  6. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  7. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  8. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  9. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  10. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  11. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  12. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  13. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  14. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  15. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  16. False peace will not ________________.
  17. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  18. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  19. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  20. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  21. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  22. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  23. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  24. He is an ace ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. mate — a partner
  3. hand — help
  4. stem — to come from
  5. content — the amount
  6. spring — the season
  7. mate — a friend
  8. pitcher — a jug
  9. mate — to breed
  10. vault — in gymnastics
  11. last — final
  12. stem — a stem cell
  13. vault — a safe
  14. vault — an arched ceiling
  15. hand — in cards
  16. last — to go on
  17. content — happy
  18. spring — of water
  19. hand — part of the body
  20. content — videos and posts
  21. stem — of a plant
  22. last — finally
  23. spring — a coil
  24. pitcher — in baseball

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