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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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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. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  2. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  3. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  4. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  5. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  6. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  7. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  8. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  9. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  10. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  11. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  12. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  13. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  14. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  15. The ball is in your ________________.
  16. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  17. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  18. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  19. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  20. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  21. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  22. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  23. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  24. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — help
  2. can — a tin
  3. mine — an explosive
  4. spring — a coil
  5. mine — belonging to me
  6. pass — a permit
  7. court — of law
  8. hand — part of the body
  9. mine — for digging
  10. spring — of water
  11. spring — the season
  12. can — a tin
  13. content — videos and posts
  14. court — of a king
  15. court — for sport
  16. content — the amount
  17. squash — the sport
  18. squash — to crush
  19. pass — to succeed
  20. can — to be able to
  21. squash — the vegetable
  22. hand — in cards
  23. pass — to spend time
  24. content — happy

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