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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. I can't ________________ this cold.
  2. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  3. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  4. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  5. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  6. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  7. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  8. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  9. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  10. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  11. I'll be taking the ________________.
  12. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  13. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  14. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  15. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  16. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  17. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  18. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  19. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  20. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  21. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  22. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  23. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  24. The flowers bloom in the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. stand — to bear
  2. craft — boats
  3. spring — a coil
  4. stand — for spectators
  5. content — happy
  6. spring — of water
  7. craft — a skill
  8. bat — in an idiom
  9. band — a music group
  10. face — to point toward
  11. tube — the underground
  12. content — the amount
  13. band — a rubber band
  14. stand — on your feet
  15. craft — a handicraft
  16. band — a ring
  17. tube — in a tire
  18. face — to confront
  19. bat — the animal
  20. tube — a container
  21. face — part of the head
  22. content — videos and posts
  23. bat — for baseball
  24. spring — the season

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