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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. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  3. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  4. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  5. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  6. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  9. This piece is in a major ________________.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  12. Did you ________________ the button?
  13. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  14. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  15. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  16. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  17. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  18. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  19. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  20. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  21. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  24. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. deal — to handle
  3. fork — a garden tool
  4. shower — a meteor shower
  5. ruler — for measuring
  6. deal — an agreement
  7. cold — an illness
  8. press — newspapers
  9. key — in music
  10. cold — not warm
  11. fork — in a road
  12. press — to push
  13. shower — rain
  14. key — for a lock
  15. shower — to wash
  16. content — videos and posts
  17. deal — a big deal
  18. ruler — for measuring
  19. fork — to eat with
  20. key — the most important part
  21. ruler — a monarch
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. content — the amount
  24. press — a publisher

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