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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. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  2. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  3. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  4. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  5. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  6. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. Have you met the new head ________________?
  11. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  14. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  15. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  16. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  17. He is an ace ________________.
  18. The ________________ went through the wall.
  19. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  20. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  21. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  22. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  23. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  24. Check the label for the sugar ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. nail — for a hammer
  2. spring — the season
  3. fall — to drop
  4. fall — the season
  5. foot — part of the body
  6. content — videos and posts
  7. clip — for paper
  8. coach — pulled by horses
  9. clip — to cut
  10. coach — a trainer
  11. content — happy
  12. clip — a video
  13. foot — a measure
  14. nail — on a finger
  15. fall — to drop
  16. pitcher — a jug
  17. pitcher — in baseball
  18. nail — for a hammer
  19. spring — of water
  20. spring — a coil
  21. foot — the bottom
  22. pitcher — a jug
  23. coach — a trainer
  24. content — the amount

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