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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. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  2. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  3. Have you met the new head ________________?
  4. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  5. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  6. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  7. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  8. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  9. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  10. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  11. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  12. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  13. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  14. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  15. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  16. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  17. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  18. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  19. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  20. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  21. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  22. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  23. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  24. I've got the luggage in my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — a coil
  2. scale — for weighing
  3. coach — a trainer
  4. hand — help
  5. shower — to wash
  6. content — happy
  7. spring — of water
  8. coach — a trainer
  9. shower — rain
  10. scale — size or range
  11. content — videos and posts
  12. trunk — of an elephant
  13. scale — in music
  14. content — the amount
  15. shower — a meteor shower
  16. chip — to eat
  17. chip — for betting
  18. hand — part of the body
  19. hand — in cards
  20. chip — in a computer
  21. trunk — of a tree
  22. coach — pulled by horses
  23. spring — the season
  24. trunk — of a car

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