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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: ground · spell · spring · content · rest · race · tube · net

  1. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  3. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  4. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  5. There's no middle ________________.
  6. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  7. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  8. How do you ________________ your surname?
  9. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  10. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  11. I'll be taking the ________________.
  12. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  13. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  14. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  15. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  16. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  17. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  18. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  19. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  20. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  21. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  22. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  23. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  24. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. rest — a break
  3. net — in sport
  4. content — the amount
  5. ground — a position
  6. spell — a short time
  7. ground — the earth
  8. spell — letters
  9. content — videos and posts
  10. tube — a container
  11. tube — the underground
  12. spring — the season
  13. race — the arms race
  14. tube — in a tire
  15. race — a contest
  16. net — after costs
  17. rest — what's left
  18. ground — crushed
  19. spell — magic
  20. race — humankind
  21. rest — what's left
  22. net — for catching
  23. spring — of water
  24. spring — a coil

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