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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. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  2. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  3. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  4. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  5. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  6. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  7. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  8. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  9. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  10. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  11. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  12. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  13. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  14. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  15. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  16. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  17. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  18. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  19. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  20. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  21. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  22. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  23. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  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. fine — high quality
  2. fine — all right
  3. present — a gift
  4. content — happy
  5. present — there
  6. bowl — a dish
  7. rest — what's left
  8. content — the amount
  9. bowl — to roll
  10. fine — a penalty
  11. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  12. rule — to rule out
  13. bowl — a football final
  14. rule — a law
  15. rest — a break
  16. wind — moving air
  17. rule — government
  18. wind — to turn a key
  19. present — the time now
  20. kid — child
  21. kid — to tease
  22. wind — moving air
  23. rest — what's left
  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