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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 116 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. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  3. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  4. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  5. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  6. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  7. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  8. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  9. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  10. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  11. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  12. Did you ________________ the meat?
  13. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  14. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  15. He is an ace ________________.
  16. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  17. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  18. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. season — of the year
  3. season — in sport
  4. rule — a law
  5. straw — a straw man
  6. content — videos and posts
  7. pitcher — a jug
  8. lean — to rest against
  9. content — the amount
  10. lean — thin
  11. rule — to rule out
  12. season — to add flavour
  13. rule — government
  14. straw — dry grass
  15. pitcher — in baseball
  16. straw — to clutch at straws
  17. pitcher — a jug
  18. lean — to bend

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