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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. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  2. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  3. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  4. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  5. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  6. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  7. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  8. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  9. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  10. Don't do anything ________________.
  11. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  12. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  13. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  14. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  15. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  16. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  17. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  18. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  19. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  20. Have you met the new head ________________?
  21. That must've been a ________________.
  22. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  23. He was locked up in a ________________.
  24. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.

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

Answer key

  1. rash — a series
  2. rash — on the skin
  3. rush — hurry
  4. rush — to hurry
  5. content — the amount
  6. file — a line of people
  7. lean — to bend
  8. content — videos and posts
  9. coach — pulled by horses
  10. rash — hasty
  11. cell — in biology
  12. lean — to rest against
  13. file — a document
  14. chest — of your body
  15. lean — thin
  16. chest — of your body
  17. chest — a box
  18. content — happy
  19. file — a tool
  20. coach — a trainer
  21. rush — a thrill
  22. cell — a phone
  23. cell — in a prison
  24. coach — a trainer

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