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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. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  2. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  3. We're almost out of ________________.
  4. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  5. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  6. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  7. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  8. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  9. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  10. You don't need to ________________ round.
  11. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  12. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  13. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  14. Don't do anything ________________.
  15. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  16. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  17. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  18. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  19. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  20. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  21. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  22. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  23. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  24. Check the label for the sugar ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. content — videos and posts
  2. pop — music
  3. pop — soda
  4. mine — for digging
  5. spring — of water
  6. rash — a series
  7. content — happy
  8. rash — on the skin
  9. stick — a piece of wood
  10. pop — to visit
  11. bat — the animal
  12. spring — the season
  13. stick — to attach or keep to
  14. rash — hasty
  15. bat — for baseball
  16. bat — in an idiom
  17. chair — to sit on
  18. mine — belonging to me
  19. chair — a leader
  20. stick — a piece of wood
  21. mine — an explosive
  22. spring — a coil
  23. chair — a professorship
  24. content — the amount

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