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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 116 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. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  2. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  3. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  4. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  5. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  6. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  7. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  8. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  9. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  10. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  11. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  12. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  13. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  14. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  15. Did you ________________ the meat?
  16. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  17. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  18. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  19. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  20. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  21. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  22. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  23. He is an ace ________________.
  24. We had a fire ________________ at school today.

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

Answer key

  1. content — videos and posts
  2. drill — army training
  3. hand — part of the body
  4. pitcher — a jug
  5. hand — in cards
  6. spring — of water
  7. spring — a coil
  8. season — in sport
  9. spring — the season
  10. scale — size or range
  11. squash — the vegetable
  12. pitcher — a jug
  13. content — happy
  14. drill — the tool
  15. season — to add flavour
  16. season — of the year
  17. squash — to crush
  18. scale — for weighing
  19. hand — help
  20. squash — the sport
  21. scale — in music
  22. content — the amount
  23. pitcher — in baseball
  24. drill — a practice

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