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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 get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  2. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  3. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  4. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  5. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  6. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  7. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  8. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  9. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  10. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  11. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  12. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  13. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  14. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  15. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  16. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  17. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  18. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  19. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  20. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  21. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  22. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  23. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  24. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — a thrill
  2. hand — help
  3. hand — in cards
  4. bear — to put up with
  5. spring — the season
  6. craft — a skill
  7. kick — with a leg
  8. mouse — for a computer
  9. bear — the animal
  10. fork — a garden tool
  11. mouse — the animal
  12. craft — boats
  13. bear — the animal
  14. content — videos and posts
  15. mouse — the animal
  16. hand — part of the body
  17. content — happy
  18. content — the amount
  19. fork — to eat with
  20. kick — in football
  21. spring — of water
  22. spring — a coil
  23. fork — in a road
  24. craft — a handicraft

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