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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. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  3. The King held a masked ________________.
  4. Have you met the new head ________________?
  5. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  6. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  7. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  8. That was a fun ________________.
  9. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  10. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  11. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  12. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  13. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  14. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  15. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  16. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  17. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  18. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  19. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  20. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  21. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  22. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  23. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  24. The kitten curled into a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — a coil
  2. coach — a trainer
  3. ball — a dance
  4. coach — a trainer
  5. game — a kind of play
  6. stick — a piece of wood
  7. content — happy
  8. game — a match
  9. spring — the season
  10. trunk — of an elephant
  11. trunk — of a tree
  12. trunk — of a car
  13. spring — of water
  14. chest — of your body
  15. coach — pulled by horses
  16. game — wild animals
  17. content — videos and posts
  18. content — the amount
  19. ball — a great time
  20. stick — a piece of wood
  21. stick — to attach or keep to
  22. chest — of your body
  23. chest — a box
  24. ball — a round shape

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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