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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. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  2. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  3. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  4. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  5. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  6. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  7. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  8. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  9. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  10. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  11. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  12. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  13. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  14. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  15. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  16. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  17. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  18. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.

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

Answer key

  1. content — the amount
  2. bowl — a dish
  3. chip — to eat
  4. prune — to trim
  5. patient — a sick person
  6. hand — help
  7. content — videos and posts
  8. chip — for betting
  9. content — happy
  10. hand — part of the body
  11. patient — calm and waiting
  12. bowl — to roll
  13. hand — in cards
  14. bowl — a football final
  15. chip — in a computer
  16. patient — a sick person
  17. prune — the fruit
  18. prune — to trim

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