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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 flowers bloom in the ________________.
  2. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  3. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  4. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  5. My father caught me by the ________________.
  6. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  7. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  8. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  9. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  10. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  11. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  12. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  13. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  14. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  15. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  16. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  17. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  18. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  19. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  20. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  21. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  22. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  23. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  24. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — the season
  2. capital — a city
  3. capital — a big letter
  4. arm — a part of something
  5. arm — part of the body
  6. spring — of water
  7. bore — gave birth
  8. spring — a coil
  9. rest — what's left
  10. snap — to speak sharply
  11. rest — what's left
  12. rest — a break
  13. field — a subject
  14. content — happy
  15. field — farmland
  16. arm — part of the body
  17. capital — money
  18. field — for sport
  19. content — videos and posts
  20. bore — to tire
  21. snap — to click
  22. content — the amount
  23. snap — to snap out of it
  24. bore — to drill

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