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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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468
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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. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  2. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  3. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  4. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  5. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  6. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  7. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  8. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  9. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  10. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  11. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  12. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  13. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  14. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  15. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  16. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  17. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  18. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  19. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  20. The ________________ went through the wall.
  21. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  22. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  23. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  24. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. content — videos and posts
  2. nail — on a finger
  3. chair — a leader
  4. present — a gift
  5. rest — a break
  6. snap — to click
  7. nail — for a hammer
  8. spring — the season
  9. spring — a coil
  10. rest — what's left
  11. content — the amount
  12. pitch — a sales talk
  13. chair — to sit on
  14. snap — to snap out of it
  15. rest — what's left
  16. snap — to speak sharply
  17. content — happy
  18. present — the time now
  19. chair — a professorship
  20. nail — for a hammer
  21. pitch — a sports field
  22. present — there
  23. pitch — completely
  24. spring — of water

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