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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 116 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 ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  2. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  3. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  4. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  5. She's very handy with a ________________.
  6. Have you found your soul ________________?
  7. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  8. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  9. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  10. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  11. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  12. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  13. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  14. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  15. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  16. The ________________ market has crashed.
  17. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  18. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  19. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  20. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  21. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  22. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  23. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  24. He works in a ________________ mill.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — for baseball
  2. content — happy
  3. bat — in an idiom
  4. vault — a safe
  5. saw — the tool
  6. mate — a partner
  7. mate — to breed
  8. stock — a soup base
  9. content — the amount
  10. spring — a coil
  11. mate — a friend
  12. saw — past of 'see'
  13. vault — in gymnastics
  14. vault — an arched ceiling
  15. cue — a hint
  16. stock — shares
  17. stock — goods
  18. bat — the animal
  19. cue — for pool
  20. content — videos and posts
  21. spring — of water
  22. spring — the season
  23. cue — a signal
  24. saw — the tool

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