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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. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  2. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  3. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  4. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  5. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  6. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  7. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  8. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  9. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  10. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  11. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  12. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  13. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  14. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  15. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  16. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  17. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  18. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  19. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  20. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  21. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  22. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  23. Have you settled on a ________________?
  24. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — to crush
  2. hand — help
  3. track — a song
  4. cap — a lid
  5. spring — a coil
  6. date — on the calendar
  7. date — the fruit
  8. cap — of ice
  9. hand — in cards
  10. content — happy
  11. content — the amount
  12. squash — the sport
  13. spring — the season
  14. hand — part of the body
  15. squash — the vegetable
  16. track — to keep track
  17. staff — employees
  18. content — videos and posts
  19. staff — employees
  20. track — a path
  21. cap — a hat
  22. staff — a stick
  23. date — on the calendar
  24. spring — of water

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