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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. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  3. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  4. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  5. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  6. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  7. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  8. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  9. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  10. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  11. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  12. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  13. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  14. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  15. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  16. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  17. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  18. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  19. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  20. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  21. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  22. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  23. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  24. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. chest — of your body
  3. wind — to turn a key
  4. wave — of the sea
  5. race — a contest
  6. wave — with your hand
  7. bore — to tire
  8. wind — moving air
  9. content — the amount
  10. mouse — the animal
  11. mouse — for a computer
  12. bore — to drill
  13. wave — a sudden rise
  14. race — the arms race
  15. wind — moving air
  16. net — after costs
  17. mouse — the animal
  18. chest — of your body
  19. bore — gave birth
  20. net — in sport
  21. race — humankind
  22. content — videos and posts
  23. net — for catching
  24. chest — a box

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