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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. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  3. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  4. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  5. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  6. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  7. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  8. That was a fun ________________.
  9. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  10. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  11. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  12. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  13. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  14. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  15. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  16. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  17. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  18. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. mine — for digging
  3. lash — an eyelash
  4. lash — to lash out
  5. game — a kind of play
  6. dip — to sink
  7. content — videos and posts
  8. game — a match
  9. mine — belonging to me
  10. dip — a sauce
  11. lash — a whip stroke
  12. content — the amount
  13. rule — a law
  14. mine — an explosive
  15. rule — to rule out
  16. rule — government
  17. dip — to dunk
  18. game — wild animals

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