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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. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  2. How do you ________________ your surname?
  3. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  4. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  5. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  6. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  7. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  8. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  9. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  10. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  11. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  12. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  13. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  14. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  15. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  16. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  17. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  18. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  19. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  20. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  21. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  22. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  23. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  24. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — of water
  2. spell — letters
  3. craft — a skill
  4. spell — a short time
  5. mark — a grade
  6. craft — boats
  7. mark — to pay attention
  8. craft — a handicraft
  9. scale — for weighing
  10. spell — magic
  11. scale — size or range
  12. scale — in music
  13. mark — a trace
  14. row — a line
  15. club — a group
  16. spring — the season
  17. content — the amount
  18. club — for golf
  19. content — videos and posts
  20. row — a quarrel
  21. club — for dancing
  22. content — happy
  23. spring — a coil
  24. row — to paddle

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