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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. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  2. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  3. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  4. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  5. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  6. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  7. That must've been a ________________.
  8. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  9. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  10. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  11. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  12. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  13. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  14. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  15. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  16. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  17. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  18. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  19. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  20. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  21. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  22. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  23. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  24. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.

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

Answer key

  1. rush — hurry
  2. lash — a whip stroke
  3. scale — size or range
  4. march — music
  5. deal — a big deal
  6. content — videos and posts
  7. rush — a thrill
  8. march — the month
  9. file — a tool
  10. scale — for weighing
  11. chest — of your body
  12. lash — to lash out
  13. march — the month
  14. file — a document
  15. chest — of your body
  16. file — a line of people
  17. lash — an eyelash
  18. content — happy
  19. rush — to hurry
  20. scale — in music
  21. deal — an agreement
  22. content — the amount
  23. deal — to handle
  24. chest — a box

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