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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. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  2. That was ________________ to happen.
  3. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  4. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  5. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  6. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  7. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  8. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  9. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  10. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  11. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  12. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  13. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  14. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  15. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  16. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  17. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  18. Did you ________________ the meat?
  19. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  20. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  21. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  22. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  23. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  24. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — of water
  2. bound — certain
  3. season — in sport
  4. hand — in cards
  5. content — videos and posts
  6. mine — belonging to me
  7. spring — a coil
  8. season — of the year
  9. bound — tied together
  10. hand — help
  11. craft — a handicraft
  12. craft — boats
  13. rule — government
  14. mine — an explosive
  15. spring — the season
  16. hand — part of the body
  17. bound — obliged
  18. season — to add flavour
  19. craft — a skill
  20. rule — a law
  21. mine — for digging
  22. content — the amount
  23. content — happy
  24. rule — to rule out

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