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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. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  3. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  4. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  5. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  6. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  7. The ball is in your ________________.
  8. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  9. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  10. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  11. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  12. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  13. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  14. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  15. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  16. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  17. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  18. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  19. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  20. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  21. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  22. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  23. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  24. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. squash — the vegetable
  3. file — a tool
  4. cap — of ice
  5. cap — a hat
  6. chip — in a computer
  7. court — for sport
  8. chip — for betting
  9. wave — of the sea
  10. content — the amount
  11. content — videos and posts
  12. squash — the sport
  13. file — a document
  14. cap — a lid
  15. wave — with your hand
  16. bark — to shout
  17. court — of a king
  18. file — a line of people
  19. squash — to crush
  20. wave — a sudden rise
  21. bark — of a tree
  22. bark — a dog's sound
  23. court — of law
  24. chip — to eat

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