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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 120 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. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  2. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  3. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  4. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  5. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  6. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  7. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  8. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  9. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  10. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  11. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  12. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  13. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  14. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  15. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  16. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  17. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  18. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  19. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  20. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  21. When was this ________________ built?
  22. That was a fun ________________.
  23. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  24. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.

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

Answer key

  1. safe — out of danger
  2. dip — to dunk
  3. game — wild animals
  4. temple — a place of worship
  5. content — happy
  6. spring — a coil
  7. band — a rubber band
  8. spring — of water
  9. band — a ring
  10. dip — to sink
  11. wind — moving air
  12. content — the amount
  13. safe — out of danger
  14. game — a kind of play
  15. wind — moving air
  16. safe — a strongbox
  17. temple — side of the head
  18. spring — the season
  19. dip — a sauce
  20. content — videos and posts
  21. temple — a place of worship
  22. game — a match
  23. band — a music group
  24. wind — to turn a key

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