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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. How do you ________________ your surname?
  3. Don't do anything ________________.
  4. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  5. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  6. Where did you ________________ them?
  7. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  8. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  9. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  10. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  11. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  12. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  13. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  14. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  15. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  16. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  17. It's one o'clock ________________.
  18. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  19. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  20. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  21. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  22. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  23. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  24. Should I buy a wireless ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. spell — letters
  3. rash — hasty
  4. mug — a face
  5. content — videos and posts
  6. mug — to rob
  7. shower — rain
  8. shower — to wash
  9. content — the amount
  10. sharp — with an edge
  11. rule — a law
  12. sharp — clever
  13. spell — a short time
  14. mouse — the animal
  15. mug — a cup
  16. rash — a series
  17. sharp — exactly
  18. rash — on the skin
  19. spell — magic
  20. rule — to rule out
  21. mouse — the animal
  22. shower — a meteor shower
  23. rule — government
  24. mouse — for a computer

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