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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. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  2. David sat on the ________________.
  3. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  4. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  5. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  6. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  7. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  8. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  9. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  10. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  11. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  12. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  13. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  14. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  15. This piece is in a major ________________.
  16. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  17. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  18. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  21. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  22. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  23. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  24. Check the label for the sugar ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. deal — to handle
  2. swing — to play on
  3. spring — a coil
  4. squash — the vegetable
  5. content — happy
  6. clip — for paper
  7. content — videos and posts
  8. clip — to cut
  9. squash — to crush
  10. swing — music
  11. key — for a lock
  12. swing — in golf
  13. key — the most important part
  14. deal — an agreement
  15. key — in music
  16. band — a rubber band
  17. band — a ring
  18. band — a music group
  19. clip — a video
  20. spring — of water
  21. deal — a big deal
  22. squash — the sport
  23. spring — the season
  24. content — the amount

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