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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. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  2. It's one o'clock ________________.
  3. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  4. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  5. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  6. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  7. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  8. We're on a ________________ here.
  9. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  10. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  11. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  12. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  13. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  14. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  15. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  16. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  17. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  18. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  19. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  20. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  21. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  22. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  23. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  24. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.

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

Answer key

  1. racket — for tennis
  2. sharp — exactly
  3. content — the amount
  4. net — in sport
  5. content — happy
  6. spring — the season
  7. straw — dry grass
  8. roll — on a roll
  9. spring — of water
  10. fall — to drop
  11. roll — a list
  12. straw — a straw man
  13. roll — a cake
  14. net — after costs
  15. straw — to clutch at straws
  16. content — videos and posts
  17. racket — for tennis
  18. net — for catching
  19. spring — a coil
  20. sharp — clever
  21. fall — to drop
  22. racket — a loud noise
  23. sharp — with an edge
  24. fall — the season

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