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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. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  4. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  5. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  6. Don't do anything ________________.
  7. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  8. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  9. Have you met the new head ________________?
  10. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  11. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  12. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  13. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  14. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  15. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  16. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  17. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  18. The ________________ took off on time.
  19. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  20. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  21. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  22. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  23. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  24. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.

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. march — music
  4. spring — the season
  5. content — videos and posts
  6. rash — hasty
  7. bear — the animal
  8. coach — pulled by horses
  9. coach — a trainer
  10. plane — in geometry
  11. rash — a series
  12. dip — to sink
  13. rash — on the skin
  14. march — the month
  15. bear — to put up with
  16. content — the amount
  17. coach — a trainer
  18. plane — an aircraft
  19. spring — of water
  20. plane — a tool
  21. march — the month
  22. bear — the animal
  23. dip — a sauce
  24. dip — to dunk

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