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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. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  3. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  4. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. Did you ________________ the button?
  7. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  8. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  11. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  12. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  13. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  14. How do you ________________ your surname?
  15. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  16. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  17. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  18. This piece is in a major ________________.
  19. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  20. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  21. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  24. That was ________________ to happen.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. bowl — a dish
  3. content — the amount
  4. bowl — a football final
  5. cold — not warm
  6. press — to push
  7. key — for a lock
  8. press — a publisher
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. bound — tied together
  11. spell — magic
  12. press — newspapers
  13. bowl — to roll
  14. spell — letters
  15. key — the most important part
  16. spell — a short time
  17. chip — to eat
  18. key — in music
  19. chip — for betting
  20. bound — obliged
  21. content — videos and posts
  22. cold — an illness
  23. chip — in a computer
  24. bound — certain

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