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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. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  2. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  3. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  4. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  5. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  6. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  7. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  8. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  9. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  10. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  11. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  12. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  13. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  14. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  15. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  16. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  17. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  18. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  19. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  20. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  21. David sat on the ________________.
  22. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  23. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  24. I had a ________________ with my boss today.

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

Answer key

  1. content — videos and posts
  2. row — a line
  3. mouse — the animal
  4. mine — belonging to me
  5. wound — an injury
  6. wound — past of 'wind'
  7. current — of water
  8. spring — the season
  9. content — happy
  10. swing — in golf
  11. current — happening now
  12. swing — music
  13. wound — an injury
  14. content — the amount
  15. current — electric
  16. spring — a coil
  17. mouse — for a computer
  18. mine — an explosive
  19. mouse — the animal
  20. mine — for digging
  21. swing — to play on
  22. spring — of water
  23. row — to paddle
  24. row — a quarrel

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