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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. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  2. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  3. It's one o'clock ________________.
  4. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  5. You don't need to ________________ round.
  6. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  7. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  8. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  9. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  10. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  11. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  12. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  13. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  14. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  15. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  16. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  17. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  18. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  19. We're on a ________________ here.
  20. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  21. False peace will not ________________.
  22. We're almost out of ________________.
  23. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  24. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mark — to pay attention
  2. content — the amount
  3. sharp — exactly
  4. straw — a straw man
  5. pop — to visit
  6. last — final
  7. roll — a cake
  8. roll — a list
  9. mark — a trace
  10. sharp — with an edge
  11. straw — to clutch at straws
  12. mark — a grade
  13. content — happy
  14. sharp — clever
  15. last — finally
  16. spring — the season
  17. spring — a coil
  18. pop — music
  19. roll — on a roll
  20. content — videos and posts
  21. last — to go on
  22. pop — soda
  23. straw — dry grass
  24. spring — of water

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