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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. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  2. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  3. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  4. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  5. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  6. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  7. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  8. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  9. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  10. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  11. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  12. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  13. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  14. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  15. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  16. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  17. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  18. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  19. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  20. The ________________ took off on time.
  21. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  22. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  23. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  24. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.

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

Answer key

  1. net — for catching
  2. rock — music
  3. toast — a drink to someone
  4. spring — of water
  5. kid — to tease
  6. plane — a tool
  7. spring — the season
  8. rock — a stone
  9. net — in sport
  10. content — the amount
  11. plane — in geometry
  12. spring — a coil
  13. toast — bread
  14. toast — the most admired
  15. staff — a stick
  16. content — videos and posts
  17. kid — child
  18. rock — to move gently
  19. staff — employees
  20. plane — an aircraft
  21. staff — employees
  22. net — after costs
  23. content — happy
  24. kid — young goat (kid gloves)

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