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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. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  3. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  4. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  5. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  6. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  7. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  8. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  9. It's one o'clock ________________.
  10. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  11. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  12. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  13. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  14. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  15. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  16. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  17. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  18. I'll be taking the ________________.
  19. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  20. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  21. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  22. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  23. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  24. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — of water
  2. straw — dry grass
  3. spring — a coil
  4. content — happy
  5. spring — the season
  6. present — there
  7. ruler — for measuring
  8. wound — past of 'wind'
  9. sharp — exactly
  10. straw — to clutch at straws
  11. sharp — with an edge
  12. straw — a straw man
  13. content — videos and posts
  14. ruler — a monarch
  15. sharp — clever
  16. content — the amount
  17. present — the time now
  18. tube — the underground
  19. ruler — for measuring
  20. wound — an injury
  21. wound — an injury
  22. present — a gift
  23. tube — in a tire
  24. tube — a container

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