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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. David sat on the ________________.
  3. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  4. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  5. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  6. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  7. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  8. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  9. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  10. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  11. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  12. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  13. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  14. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  15. We're on a ________________ here.
  16. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  17. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  18. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  19. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  20. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  21. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  22. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  23. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  24. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — a coil
  2. swing — to play on
  3. file — a line of people
  4. toast — a drink to someone
  5. content — happy
  6. band — a music group
  7. root — of a plant
  8. spring — the season
  9. swing — music
  10. root — the cause
  11. content — videos and posts
  12. roll — a cake
  13. band — a rubber band
  14. file — a tool
  15. roll — on a roll
  16. toast — bread
  17. root — of a word
  18. band — a ring
  19. content — the amount
  20. toast — the most admired
  21. swing — in golf
  22. file — a document
  23. roll — a list
  24. spring — of water

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