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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. She's very handy with a ________________.
  2. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  3. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  6. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  7. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  8. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  9. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  10. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  13. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  14. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  15. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  16. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  17. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  18. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  19. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  20. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  23. He works in a ________________ mill.
  24. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.

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

Answer key

  1. saw — the tool
  2. spring — of water
  3. lean — to bend
  4. cold — not warm
  5. content — videos and posts
  6. lean — to rest against
  7. saw — past of 'see'
  8. bear — the animal
  9. bear — to put up with
  10. can — a tin
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. bear — the animal
  13. content — happy
  14. lean — thin
  15. content — the amount
  16. can — to be able to
  17. spring — the season
  18. capital — money
  19. spring — a coil
  20. capital — a city
  21. cold — an illness
  22. can — a tin
  23. saw — the tool
  24. capital — a big letter

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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