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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 goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  2. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  3. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  4. Have you settled on a ________________?
  5. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  6. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  7. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  8. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  9. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  10. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  11. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  12. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  13. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  14. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  15. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  16. It's one o'clock ________________.
  17. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  18. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  19. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  20. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  21. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  22. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  23. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  24. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — dry grass
  2. spring — the season
  3. sharp — clever
  4. date — on the calendar
  5. spring — a coil
  6. rule — government
  7. sharp — with an edge
  8. scale — for weighing
  9. branch — of a bank
  10. straw — a straw man
  11. content — happy
  12. date — on the calendar
  13. straw — to clutch at straws
  14. scale — size or range
  15. date — the fruit
  16. sharp — exactly
  17. content — videos and posts
  18. content — the amount
  19. scale — in music
  20. branch — a division
  21. spring — of water
  22. rule — to rule out
  23. branch — of a tree
  24. rule — a law

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