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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 girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  2. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  3. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  4. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  5. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  6. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  7. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  8. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  9. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  10. That was ________________ to happen.
  11. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  12. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  13. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  14. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  15. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  16. You don't need to ________________ round.
  17. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  18. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  19. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  20. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. We're almost out of ________________.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. row — a line
  2. row — to paddle
  3. spring — the season
  4. pop — music
  5. content — the amount
  6. content — videos and posts
  7. drill — army training
  8. content — happy
  9. row — a quarrel
  10. bound — certain
  11. bound — obliged
  12. spring — a coil
  13. drill — a practice
  14. spring — of water
  15. bound — tied together
  16. pop — to visit
  17. wake — to stop sleeping
  18. drill — the tool
  19. wake — before a funeral
  20. wake — a trail
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. pop — soda
  23. cold — not warm
  24. cold — an illness

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