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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 116 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. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  2. What do you think of the new ________________?
  3. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  4. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  5. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  6. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  7. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  8. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  9. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  10. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  11. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  12. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  15. I'll be taking the ________________.
  16. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  19. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  20. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  21. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  22. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  23. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. racket — a loud noise
  2. cabinet — ministers
  3. spring — a coil
  4. spring — the season
  5. root — of a word
  6. present — a gift
  7. racket — for tennis
  8. root — the cause
  9. spring — of water
  10. cabinet — a cupboard
  11. tube — in a tire
  12. content — videos and posts
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. content — happy
  15. tube — the underground
  16. tube — a container
  17. cold — an illness
  18. content — the amount
  19. present — there
  20. root — of a plant
  21. racket — for tennis
  22. present — the time now
  23. cabinet — ministers
  24. cold — not warm

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