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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. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  2. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  3. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  4. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  5. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  6. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  7. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  8. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  9. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  10. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  11. False peace will not ________________.
  12. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  13. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  14. David sat on the ________________.
  15. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  16. It's one o'clock ________________.
  17. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  18. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  19. That must've been a ________________.
  20. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  21. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  22. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  23. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  24. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.

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

Answer key

  1. rush — to hurry
  2. content — the amount
  3. swing — in golf
  4. fall — to drop
  5. content — videos and posts
  6. craft — a handicraft
  7. sharp — with an edge
  8. kid — child
  9. kid — to tease
  10. craft — boats
  11. last — to go on
  12. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  13. sharp — clever
  14. swing — to play on
  15. rush — hurry
  16. sharp — exactly
  17. fall — the season
  18. craft — a skill
  19. rush — a thrill
  20. fall — to drop
  21. last — final
  22. last — finally
  23. content — happy
  24. swing — music

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