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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. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  2. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  3. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  4. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  5. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  6. You don't need to ________________ round.
  7. There's no middle ________________.
  8. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  9. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  10. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  11. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  12. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  13. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  14. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  15. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  16. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  17. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  18. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  19. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  20. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  21. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  22. We're on a ________________ here.
  23. We're almost out of ________________.
  24. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?

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

Answer key

  1. pop — music
  2. spring — a coil
  3. hand — in cards
  4. hand — help
  5. spring — the season
  6. pop — to visit
  7. ground — a position
  8. content — videos and posts
  9. object — to protest
  10. roll — a list
  11. spring — of water
  12. bore — gave birth
  13. object — a thing
  14. bore — to drill
  15. hand — part of the body
  16. content — happy
  17. ground — crushed
  18. ground — the earth
  19. object — an aim
  20. content — the amount
  21. roll — a cake
  22. roll — on a roll
  23. pop — soda
  24. bore — to tire

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