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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: net · bat · can · wind · spring · chair · content · pop

  1. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  2. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  3. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  4. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  5. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  6. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  7. You don't need to ________________ round.
  8. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  9. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  10. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  11. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  12. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  13. We're almost out of ________________.
  14. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  15. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  16. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  17. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  18. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  19. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  20. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  21. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  22. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  23. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  24. The ball hit the back of the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — a coil
  2. can — a tin
  3. can — a tin
  4. net — after costs
  5. chair — to sit on
  6. spring — of water
  7. pop — to visit
  8. can — to be able to
  9. bat — in an idiom
  10. content — videos and posts
  11. bat — for baseball
  12. content — happy
  13. pop — soda
  14. wind — to turn a key
  15. wind — moving air
  16. pop — music
  17. chair — a professorship
  18. wind — moving air
  19. bat — the animal
  20. spring — the season
  21. net — for catching
  22. content — the amount
  23. chair — a leader
  24. net — in sport

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