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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 116 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 fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  3. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  4. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  5. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  6. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  7. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  8. That was a fun ________________.
  9. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  10. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  11. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  12. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  13. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  14. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  15. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  16. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  17. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  18. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  19. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  20. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  21. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  22. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  23. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  24. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. bass — the fish
  3. race — the arms race
  4. wake — a trail
  5. rule — to rule out
  6. pit — a hole
  7. pit — a fruit stone
  8. game — a match
  9. content — the amount
  10. kid — child
  11. bass — the instrument
  12. pit — in a race
  13. wake — to stop sleeping
  14. rule — a law
  15. race — a contest
  16. race — humankind
  17. game — a kind of play
  18. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  19. wake — before a funeral
  20. bass — low music
  21. content — videos and posts
  22. kid — to tease
  23. game — wild animals
  24. rule — government

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