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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. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  2. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  3. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  4. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  5. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  6. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  7. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  8. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  9. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  10. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  11. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  12. There's no middle ________________.
  13. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  14. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  15. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  16. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  17. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  18. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  19. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  20. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  21. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  22. We're on a ________________ here.
  23. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  24. Do you need a ________________ with that?

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

Answer key

  1. present — a gift
  2. lie — to recline
  3. present — the time now
  4. content — happy
  5. roll — a list
  6. lie — an untruth
  7. content — the amount
  8. wind — to turn a key
  9. hand — in cards
  10. roll — a cake
  11. present — there
  12. ground — a position
  13. wind — moving air
  14. content — videos and posts
  15. squash — the sport
  16. ground — crushed
  17. squash — to crush
  18. ground — the earth
  19. lie — an untruth
  20. squash — the vegetable
  21. wind — moving air
  22. roll — on a roll
  23. hand — part of the body
  24. hand — help

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