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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. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  3. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  4. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  5. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  6. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  7. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  8. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  9. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  10. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  11. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  12. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  13. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  14. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  15. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  16. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  17. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  18. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  19. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  20. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  21. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  22. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  23. It's one o'clock ________________.
  24. He's quite ________________, isn't he?

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. bear — to put up with
  3. bear — the animal
  4. chair — a professorship
  5. mine — an explosive
  6. lean — to bend
  7. bear — the animal
  8. sharp — with an edge
  9. content — the amount
  10. bat — for baseball
  11. lean — to rest against
  12. content — videos and posts
  13. lean — thin
  14. mine — for digging
  15. chair — to sit on
  16. mine — belonging to me
  17. fall — to drop
  18. bat — in an idiom
  19. chair — a leader
  20. fall — the season
  21. fall — to drop
  22. bat — the animal
  23. sharp — exactly
  24. sharp — clever

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