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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. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  2. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  3. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  4. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  5. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  6. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  7. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  8. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  9. When will it ________________ you to start?
  10. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  11. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  12. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  13. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  14. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  17. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  18. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  21. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  22. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  23. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. content — the amount
  2. content — happy
  3. can — to be able to
  4. suit — in cards
  5. snap — to click
  6. snap — to speak sharply
  7. snap — to snap out of it
  8. firm — a company
  9. suit — to fit
  10. firm — steady
  11. spring — the season
  12. suit — clothes
  13. spring — of water
  14. chest — of your body
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. can — a tin
  17. chest — a box
  18. content — videos and posts
  19. cold — not warm
  20. can — a tin
  21. firm — decided
  22. spring — a coil
  23. chest — of your body
  24. cold — an illness

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