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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. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  2. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  3. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  4. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  5. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  6. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  7. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  8. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  9. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  10. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  11. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  12. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  13. He was locked up in a ________________.
  14. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  15. When will it ________________ you to start?
  16. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  17. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  18. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  19. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  20. That was a fun ________________.
  21. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  22. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  23. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  24. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a kind of play
  2. content — the amount
  3. row — a quarrel
  4. suit — in cards
  5. bear — to put up with
  6. fork — to eat with
  7. fork — a garden tool
  8. content — videos and posts
  9. cell — in biology
  10. game — wild animals
  11. content — happy
  12. chest — of your body
  13. cell — in a prison
  14. fork — in a road
  15. suit — to fit
  16. chest — of your body
  17. row — to paddle
  18. suit — clothes
  19. chest — a box
  20. game — a match
  21. bear — the animal
  22. bear — the animal
  23. cell — a phone
  24. row — a line

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