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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. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  2. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  3. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  4. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  5. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  6. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  7. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  8. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  9. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  10. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  11. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  12. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  13. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  14. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  15. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  16. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  17. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  18. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  19. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  20. That must've been a ________________.
  21. Did you ________________ the meat?
  22. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  23. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  24. Check the label for the sugar ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rush — hurry
  2. bark — of a tree
  3. content — videos and posts
  4. rush — to hurry
  5. fine — a penalty
  6. fine — all right
  7. root — the cause
  8. bark — to shout
  9. chest — a box
  10. season — of the year
  11. row — a quarrel
  12. root — of a word
  13. bark — a dog's sound
  14. fine — high quality
  15. season — in sport
  16. chest — of your body
  17. content — happy
  18. chest — of your body
  19. row — a line
  20. rush — a thrill
  21. season — to add flavour
  22. root — of a plant
  23. row — to paddle
  24. content — the amount

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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