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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. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  3. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  4. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  5. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  6. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  7. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  8. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  9. That was ________________ to happen.
  10. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  11. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  12. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  13. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  14. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  15. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  16. The tickets are free of ________________.
  17. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  18. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  19. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  20. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  21. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  22. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  23. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  24. There's no middle ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. dip — a sauce
  3. charge — in control
  4. lie — an untruth
  5. lie — an untruth
  6. content — videos and posts
  7. bound — obliged
  8. bat — in an idiom
  9. bound — certain
  10. dip — to dunk
  11. bat — the animal
  12. bound — tied together
  13. content — the amount
  14. scale — in music
  15. ground — crushed
  16. charge — a price
  17. bat — for baseball
  18. scale — for weighing
  19. dip — to sink
  20. scale — size or range
  21. lie — to recline
  22. charge — electricity
  23. ground — the earth
  24. ground — a position

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