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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. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  2. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  3. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  4. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  5. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  6. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  7. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  8. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  9. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  10. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  11. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  12. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  13. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  14. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  15. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  16. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  17. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  18. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  19. He is an ace ________________.
  20. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  21. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  22. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  23. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  24. Do you need a ________________ with that?

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

Answer key

  1. content — the amount
  2. spring — a coil
  3. hand — in cards
  4. bank — for money
  5. spring — the season
  6. content — happy
  7. bank — for money
  8. drill — a practice
  9. content — videos and posts
  10. drill — the tool
  11. net — for catching
  12. hand — part of the body
  13. pitcher — a jug
  14. stem — of a plant
  15. net — after costs
  16. spring — of water
  17. stem — to come from
  18. net — in sport
  19. pitcher — in baseball
  20. stem — a stem cell
  21. bank — of a river
  22. drill — army training
  23. pitcher — a jug
  24. hand — help

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