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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. He is an ace ________________.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  5. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  6. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  7. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  8. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  9. The ________________ market has crashed.
  10. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  11. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  12. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  13. He works in a ________________ mill.
  14. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  17. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  18. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  19. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  22. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  23. She's very handy with a ________________.
  24. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. pitcher — in baseball
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. stock — a soup base
  5. fan — a supporter
  6. stock — goods
  7. pitch — a sports field
  8. fan — to cool the air
  9. stock — shares
  10. saw — past of 'see'
  11. mouse — the animal
  12. pitch — completely
  13. saw — the tool
  14. pitcher — a jug
  15. cold — an illness
  16. pitch — a sales talk
  17. mouse — the animal
  18. content — the amount
  19. mouse — for a computer
  20. cold — not warm
  21. fan — a supporter
  22. pitcher — a jug
  23. saw — the tool
  24. content — videos and posts

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