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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. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  2. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  3. When are we going to ________________?
  4. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  5. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  6. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  7. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  8. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  9. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  10. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  11. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  12. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  13. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  14. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  15. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  16. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  17. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  18. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  19. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  20. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  21. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  22. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  23. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  24. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.

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

Answer key

  1. land — ground
  2. spring — of water
  3. land — to come down
  4. straw — to clutch at straws
  5. content — happy
  6. wake — a trail
  7. straw — a straw man
  8. squash — the sport
  9. spring — the season
  10. content — the amount
  11. craft — a skill
  12. wake — to stop sleeping
  13. pitch — completely
  14. squash — the vegetable
  15. squash — to crush
  16. pitch — a sports field
  17. craft — a handicraft
  18. straw — dry grass
  19. land — a country
  20. content — videos and posts
  21. wake — before a funeral
  22. craft — boats
  23. pitch — a sales talk
  24. spring — a coil

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