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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. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  2. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  3. My father caught me by the ________________.
  4. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  5. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  6. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  7. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  8. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  9. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  10. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  11. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  12. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  13. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  14. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  15. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  16. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  17. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  18. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  19. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  20. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  21. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  22. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  23. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  24. I got dealt a bad ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. content — the amount
  2. row — a quarrel
  3. arm — part of the body
  4. content — videos and posts
  5. spring — the season
  6. race — the arms race
  7. hand — part of the body
  8. spring — a coil
  9. arm — a part of something
  10. race — humankind
  11. arm — part of the body
  12. band — a rubber band
  13. band — a ring
  14. hand — help
  15. perch — for a bird
  16. spring — of water
  17. row — to paddle
  18. perch — for a bird
  19. row — a line
  20. band — a music group
  21. perch — the fish
  22. content — happy
  23. race — a contest
  24. hand — in cards

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