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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. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  2. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  3. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  4. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  5. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  6. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  7. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  10. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  11. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  12. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  13. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  14. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  15. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  16. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  19. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  20. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  21. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  24. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!

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

Answer key

  1. hand — help
  2. content — the amount
  3. bowl — a football final
  4. pit — a hole
  5. content — happy
  6. firm — steady
  7. lean — to rest against
  8. cold — an illness
  9. hand — part of the body
  10. content — videos and posts
  11. firm — a company
  12. pit — a fruit stone
  13. lean — to bend
  14. hand — in cards
  15. bowl — a dish
  16. bear — the animal
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. bear — the animal
  19. lean — thin
  20. firm — decided
  21. bowl — to roll
  22. cold — not warm
  23. pit — in a race
  24. bear — to put up with

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