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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. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  2. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  3. Have you met the new head ________________?
  4. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  5. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  6. We're on a ________________ here.
  7. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  8. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  9. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  10. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  11. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  12. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  13. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  14. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  15. How do you ________________ your surname?
  16. The ________________ market has crashed.
  17. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  18. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  19. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  20. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  21. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  22. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  23. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  24. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — the sport
  2. present — a gift
  3. coach — a trainer
  4. content — happy
  5. stock — a soup base
  6. roll — on a roll
  7. spell — magic
  8. chest — of your body
  9. roll — a list
  10. chest — of your body
  11. coach — a trainer
  12. content — the amount
  13. stock — goods
  14. present — there
  15. spell — letters
  16. stock — shares
  17. squash — to crush
  18. roll — a cake
  19. squash — the vegetable
  20. content — videos and posts
  21. spell — a short time
  22. coach — pulled by horses
  23. chest — a box
  24. present — the time now

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