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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. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  2. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  3. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  4. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  5. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  6. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  7. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  8. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  9. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  10. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  11. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  12. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  13. Don't do anything ________________.
  14. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  15. The ________________ market has crashed.
  16. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  17. That was ________________ to happen.
  18. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  19. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  20. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  21. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  22. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  23. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  24. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — part of the body
  2. patient — calm and waiting
  3. spring — the season
  4. content — happy
  5. hand — help
  6. hand — in cards
  7. bound — obliged
  8. stock — a soup base
  9. rash — on the skin
  10. rash — a series
  11. content — the amount
  12. bound — tied together
  13. rash — hasty
  14. spring — of water
  15. stock — shares
  16. root — of a word
  17. bound — certain
  18. patient — a sick person
  19. stock — goods
  20. root — of a plant
  21. spring — a coil
  22. patient — a sick person
  23. content — videos and posts
  24. root — the cause

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