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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. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  2. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  3. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  4. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  5. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  6. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  7. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  8. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  9. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  10. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  11. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  12. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  13. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  14. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  15. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  16. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  17. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  18. How do you ________________ your surname?
  19. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  20. The King held a masked ________________.
  21. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  22. The ________________ market has crashed.
  23. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  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. kick — a thrill
  2. hand — help
  3. row — a quarrel
  4. row — to paddle
  5. current — happening now
  6. row — a line
  7. stock — goods
  8. hand — in cards
  9. spell — magic
  10. hand — part of the body
  11. kick — with a leg
  12. content — happy
  13. spell — a short time
  14. ball — a round shape
  15. ball — a great time
  16. stock — a soup base
  17. content — videos and posts
  18. spell — letters
  19. current — of water
  20. ball — a dance
  21. current — electric
  22. stock — shares
  23. kick — in football
  24. content — the amount

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