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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. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  3. Have you settled on a ________________?
  4. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  5. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  6. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  7. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  8. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  9. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  10. When are we going to ________________?
  11. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  12. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  13. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  14. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  15. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  16. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  17. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  18. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  19. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  20. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  21. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  22. I'll be taking the ________________.
  23. When will it ________________ you to start?
  24. He is as ________________ as a wolf.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. content — the amount
  3. date — on the calendar
  4. land — a country
  5. tube — in a tire
  6. snap — to click
  7. land — ground
  8. suit — clothes
  9. lean — to rest against
  10. land — to come down
  11. wake — to stop sleeping
  12. wake — before a funeral
  13. wake — a trail
  14. date — on the calendar
  15. content — videos and posts
  16. tube — a container
  17. date — the fruit
  18. suit — in cards
  19. lean — to bend
  20. snap — to snap out of it
  21. snap — to speak sharply
  22. tube — the underground
  23. suit — to fit
  24. lean — thin

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