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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. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  2. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  3. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  4. There's no middle ________________.
  5. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  6. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  7. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  8. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  9. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  10. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  11. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  12. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  13. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  14. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  15. The ball is in your ________________.
  16. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  17. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  18. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  19. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  20. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  21. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  22. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  23. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  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. object — a thing
  2. lash — to lash out
  3. chest — of your body
  4. ground — a position
  5. object — an aim
  6. court — of a king
  7. lash — an eyelash
  8. band — a music group
  9. court — of law
  10. spring — a coil
  11. lash — a whip stroke
  12. spring — the season
  13. chest — of your body
  14. ground — crushed
  15. court — for sport
  16. object — to protest
  17. band — a ring
  18. content — happy
  19. chest — a box
  20. spring — of water
  21. content — videos and posts
  22. ground — the earth
  23. band — a rubber band
  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