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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. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  2. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  3. David sat on the ________________.
  4. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  5. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  6. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  7. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  8. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  9. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  10. I'll be taking the ________________.
  11. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  12. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  13. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  14. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  15. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  16. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  17. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  18. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  19. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  20. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  21. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  22. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  23. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  24. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — a coil
  2. tube — a container
  3. swing — to play on
  4. swing — in golf
  5. content — the amount
  6. lie — an untruth
  7. chair — to sit on
  8. chair — a professorship
  9. tube — in a tire
  10. tube — the underground
  11. content — happy
  12. hand — part of the body
  13. hand — in cards
  14. hand — help
  15. chair — a leader
  16. branch — of a tree
  17. spring — the season
  18. content — videos and posts
  19. spring — of water
  20. swing — music
  21. branch — of a bank
  22. lie — to recline
  23. branch — a division
  24. lie — an untruth

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