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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. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  2. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  3. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  4. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  5. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  6. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  7. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  8. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  9. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  10. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  11. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  12. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  13. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  14. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  15. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  16. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  17. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  18. That must've been a ________________.
  19. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  20. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  21. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  22. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  23. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  24. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.

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

Answer key

  1. rush — to hurry
  2. march — music
  3. wave — a sudden rise
  4. content — videos and posts
  5. wave — with your hand
  6. fall — to drop
  7. fall — the season
  8. bark — to shout
  9. rush — hurry
  10. fall — to drop
  11. content — the amount
  12. kid — to tease
  13. wave — of the sea
  14. bore — to tire
  15. bore — to drill
  16. bore — gave birth
  17. content — happy
  18. rush — a thrill
  19. bark — of a tree
  20. kid — child
  21. march — the month
  22. bark — a dog's sound
  23. march — the month
  24. kid — young goat (kid gloves)

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