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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 120 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. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  3. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  4. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  5. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  6. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  7. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  8. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  9. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  10. How do you ________________ your surname?
  11. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  12. He was locked up in a ________________.
  13. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  14. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  15. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  16. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  17. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  18. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  19. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  20. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  21. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  22. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  23. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  24. Is it ________________ for us to be here?

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. lash — a whip stroke
  3. bass — low music
  4. spell — a short time
  5. wound — an injury
  6. safe — a strongbox
  7. fork — in a road
  8. bass — the fish
  9. lash — to lash out
  10. spell — letters
  11. lash — an eyelash
  12. cell — in a prison
  13. wound — past of 'wind'
  14. fork — a garden tool
  15. cell — a phone
  16. safe — out of danger
  17. content — the amount
  18. content — videos and posts
  19. spell — magic
  20. bass — the instrument
  21. wound — an injury
  22. fork — to eat with
  23. cell — in biology
  24. safe — out of danger

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