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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. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  2. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  3. He was locked up in a ________________.
  4. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  5. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  6. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  7. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  8. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  9. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  10. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  11. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  12. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  13. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  14. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  15. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  16. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  17. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  18. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  19. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  20. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  21. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  22. The ________________ market has crashed.
  23. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  24. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!

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

Answer key

  1. spring — a coil
  2. content — happy
  3. cell — in a prison
  4. stock — a soup base
  5. trunk — of a tree
  6. cue — for pool
  7. trunk — of a car
  8. chest — of your body
  9. spring — the season
  10. band — a rubber band
  11. trunk — of an elephant
  12. chest — a box
  13. band — a ring
  14. band — a music group
  15. content — the amount
  16. chest — of your body
  17. cue — a signal
  18. cell — in biology
  19. content — videos and posts
  20. stock — goods
  21. cue — a hint
  22. stock — shares
  23. spring — of water
  24. cell — a phone

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