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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. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  2. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  3. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  4. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  5. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  6. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  7. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  8. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  15. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  16. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  17. The tickets are free of ________________.
  18. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  19. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  20. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  21. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  22. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  23. This piece is in a major ________________.
  24. Check the label for the sugar ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. toast — bread
  2. charge — in control
  3. content — happy
  4. toast — the most admired
  5. pitch — completely
  6. charge — electricity
  7. key — for a lock
  8. row — to paddle
  9. cold — an illness
  10. pitch — a sales talk
  11. cold — not warm
  12. row — a line
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. pitch — a sports field
  15. squash — the sport
  16. squash — the vegetable
  17. charge — a price
  18. squash — to crush
  19. toast — a drink to someone
  20. key — the most important part
  21. content — videos and posts
  22. row — a quarrel
  23. key — in music
  24. content — the amount

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