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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. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  3. Have you found your soul ________________?
  4. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  5. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  6. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  7. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  8. How do you ________________ your surname?
  9. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  10. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  11. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  12. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  13. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  14. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  15. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  16. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  17. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  18. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  19. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  20. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  21. False peace will not ________________.
  22. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  23. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  24. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. last — finally
  3. mate — a partner
  4. mate — a friend
  5. fall — the season
  6. content — videos and posts
  7. stick — to attach or keep to
  8. spell — letters
  9. snap — to speak sharply
  10. stick — a piece of wood
  11. fan — a supporter
  12. spell — a short time
  13. fall — to drop
  14. mate — to breed
  15. last — final
  16. fall — to drop
  17. snap — to snap out of it
  18. stick — a piece of wood
  19. fan — to cool the air
  20. content — the amount
  21. last — to go on
  22. fan — a supporter
  23. snap — to click
  24. spell — magic

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