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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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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: spring · deal · mug · dip · cell · spell · stick · content

  1. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  3. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  4. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  5. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  6. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  7. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  8. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  9. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  10. He was locked up in a ________________.
  11. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  12. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  13. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  14. Where did you ________________ them?
  15. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  16. How do you ________________ your surname?
  17. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  18. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  19. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  20. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  21. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  22. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  23. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  24. Check the label for the sugar ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. spring — a coil
  3. spring — the season
  4. dip — to sink
  5. stick — a piece of wood
  6. mug — a face
  7. spring — of water
  8. dip — a sauce
  9. cell — a phone
  10. cell — in a prison
  11. mug — a cup
  12. stick — a piece of wood
  13. spell — a short time
  14. mug — to rob
  15. deal — a big deal
  16. spell — letters
  17. content — videos and posts
  18. cell — in biology
  19. deal — an agreement
  20. stick — to attach or keep to
  21. dip — to dunk
  22. deal — to handle
  23. spell — magic
  24. content — the amount

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