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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. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  3. That was a fun ________________.
  4. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  5. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  6. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  7. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  8. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  9. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  10. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  11. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  12. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  13. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  14. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  15. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  16. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  17. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  18. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  19. He is an ace ________________.
  20. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  21. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  22. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  23. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  24. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. spring — a coil
  3. game — a match
  4. spring — the season
  5. club — a group
  6. deal — to handle
  7. content — the amount
  8. bank — for money
  9. kid — child
  10. game — wild animals
  11. club — for dancing
  12. deal — a big deal
  13. pitcher — a jug
  14. pitcher — a jug
  15. club — for golf
  16. kid — to tease
  17. deal — an agreement
  18. spring — of water
  19. pitcher — in baseball
  20. bank — for money
  21. bank — of a river
  22. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  23. game — a kind of play
  24. content — videos and posts

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