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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. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  3. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  4. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  5. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  6. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  7. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  8. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  9. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  10. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  11. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  12. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  13. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  14. He was locked up in a ________________.
  15. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  16. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  17. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  18. David sat on the ________________.
  19. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  20. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  21. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  22. The ________________ took off on time.
  23. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  24. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — a coil
  2. swing — music
  3. shower — a meteor shower
  4. spring — the season
  5. swing — in golf
  6. bark — to shout
  7. shower — rain
  8. shower — to wash
  9. cell — a phone
  10. content — the amount
  11. bark — of a tree
  12. plane — in geometry
  13. plane — a tool
  14. cell — in a prison
  15. kick — with a leg
  16. kick — in football
  17. content — videos and posts
  18. swing — to play on
  19. bark — a dog's sound
  20. spring — of water
  21. cell — in biology
  22. plane — an aircraft
  23. kick — a thrill
  24. content — happy

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