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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. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  3. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  4. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  5. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  6. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  7. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  8. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  9. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  10. David sat on the ________________.
  11. When will it ________________ you to start?
  12. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  13. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  14. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  15. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  16. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  17. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  18. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  19. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  20. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  21. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  22. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  23. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  24. Do you need a ________________ with that?

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

Answer key

  1. spring — of water
  2. net — for catching
  3. suit — in cards
  4. spring — a coil
  5. net — after costs
  6. swing — in golf
  7. spring — the season
  8. hand — part of the body
  9. wax — to grow
  10. swing — to play on
  11. suit — to fit
  12. band — a music group
  13. swing — music
  14. content — videos and posts
  15. wax — in the ear
  16. wax — for sculpting
  17. suit — clothes
  18. band — a rubber band
  19. content — happy
  20. band — a ring
  21. net — in sport
  22. content — the amount
  23. hand — in cards
  24. hand — help

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