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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. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  3. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  4. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  5. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  6. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  11. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  12. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  13. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  14. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  15. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  16. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  17. You don't need to ________________ round.
  18. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  19. We're almost out of ________________.
  20. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  21. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  24. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. file — a document
  3. wake — before a funeral
  4. wake — to stop sleeping
  5. kid — child
  6. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. file — a line of people
  9. cold — an illness
  10. content — videos and posts
  11. content — the amount
  12. pop — music
  13. toast — a drink to someone
  14. kid — to tease
  15. hide — to keep secret
  16. wake — a trail
  17. pop — to visit
  18. toast — the most admired
  19. pop — soda
  20. hide — animal skin
  21. hide — to keep secret
  22. cold — not warm
  23. file — a tool
  24. toast — bread

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