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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. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  2. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  3. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  4. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  5. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  6. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  7. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  8. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  9. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  10. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  11. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  12. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  13. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  14. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  15. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  16. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  17. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  18. That was a fun ________________.
  19. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  20. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  21. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  22. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  23. My father caught me by the ________________.
  24. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.

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

Answer key

  1. arm — a part of something
  2. race — a contest
  3. content — happy
  4. content — videos and posts
  5. squash — the vegetable
  6. dip — a sauce
  7. spring — a coil
  8. staff — employees
  9. race — humankind
  10. dip — to sink
  11. arm — part of the body
  12. content — the amount
  13. spring — of water
  14. squash — the sport
  15. dip — to dunk
  16. staff — employees
  17. squash — to crush
  18. game — a match
  19. spring — the season
  20. game — wild animals
  21. race — the arms race
  22. staff — a stick
  23. arm — part of the body
  24. game — a kind of play

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