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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. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  2. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  3. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  4. The ball is in your ________________.
  5. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  6. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  7. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  8. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  9. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  10. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  11. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  12. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  13. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  14. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  15. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  16. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  17. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  18. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  19. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  20. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  21. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  22. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  23. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  24. She's sitting on a gold ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wave — with your hand
  2. hide — to keep secret
  3. content — videos and posts
  4. court — for sport
  5. spring — a coil
  6. court — of law
  7. wave — a sudden rise
  8. mine — an explosive
  9. content — happy
  10. row — a quarrel
  11. wave — of the sea
  12. row — a line
  13. content — the amount
  14. hide — animal skin
  15. hand — help
  16. mine — belonging to me
  17. hide — to keep secret
  18. hand — part of the body
  19. hand — in cards
  20. court — of a king
  21. row — to paddle
  22. spring — the season
  23. spring — of water
  24. mine — for digging

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