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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. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  3. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  4. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  5. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  6. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  7. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  8. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  9. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  10. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  11. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  12. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  13. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  14. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  15. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  16. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  17. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  18. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  19. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  20. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  21. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  22. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  23. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  24. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — of water
  2. content — happy
  3. calf — of the leg
  4. bat — in an idiom
  5. drill — a practice
  6. calf — a young animal
  7. fine — a penalty
  8. drill — army training
  9. pit — a fruit stone
  10. fork — in a road
  11. spring — the season
  12. drill — the tool
  13. pit — a hole
  14. pit — in a race
  15. fork — a garden tool
  16. bat — for baseball
  17. fine — high quality
  18. spring — a coil
  19. fork — to eat with
  20. content — the amount
  21. calf — a young animal
  22. content — videos and posts
  23. fine — all right
  24. bat — the animal

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