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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. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  3. The King held a masked ________________.
  4. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  5. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  6. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  7. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  8. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  9. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  10. When will it ________________ you to start?
  11. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  12. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  13. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  14. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  15. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  16. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  17. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  18. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  19. When are we going to ________________?
  20. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  21. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  22. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  23. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  24. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. suit — in cards
  3. ball — a dance
  4. bear — the animal
  5. land — a country
  6. drill — the tool
  7. land — ground
  8. content — videos and posts
  9. bear — to put up with
  10. suit — to fit
  11. lash — a whip stroke
  12. drill — army training
  13. content — the amount
  14. suit — clothes
  15. ball — a round shape
  16. ball — a great time
  17. lash — to lash out
  18. lash — an eyelash
  19. land — to come down
  20. chest — a box
  21. drill — a practice
  22. chest — of your body
  23. chest — of your body
  24. bear — the animal

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