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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. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  2. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  3. How do you ________________ your surname?
  4. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  5. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  6. He is an ace ________________.
  7. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  8. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  9. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  10. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  11. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  12. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  13. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  14. False peace will not ________________.
  15. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  16. The ball is in your ________________.
  17. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  18. My mare is ________________ in color.
  19. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  20. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  21. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  22. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  23. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  24. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. toast — the most admired
  2. spring — of water
  3. spell — letters
  4. pitcher — a jug
  5. last — finally
  6. pitcher — in baseball
  7. pitcher — a jug
  8. last — final
  9. content — the amount
  10. court — of law
  11. content — videos and posts
  12. spell — a short time
  13. toast — bread
  14. last — to go on
  15. bay — a part of the sea
  16. court — for sport
  17. content — happy
  18. bay — a horse colour
  19. toast — a drink to someone
  20. spring — a coil
  21. court — of a king
  22. spring — the season
  23. bay — to keep at bay
  24. spell — magic

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