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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 120 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. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  3. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  4. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  5. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  6. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  7. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  8. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  9. My father caught me by the ________________.
  10. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  11. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  12. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  13. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  14. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  15. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  16. Have you found your soul ________________?
  17. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  18. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  19. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  20. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  21. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  22. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  23. The ________________ market has crashed.
  24. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. content — the amount
  3. bear — the animal
  4. bat — for baseball
  5. stock — a soup base
  6. bat — the animal
  7. arm — part of the body
  8. mate — to breed
  9. arm — part of the body
  10. bat — in an idiom
  11. wind — moving air
  12. bear — the animal
  13. board — a committee
  14. arm — a part of something
  15. bear — to put up with
  16. mate — a partner
  17. content — videos and posts
  18. wind — to turn a key
  19. board — a flat piece
  20. stock — goods
  21. wind — moving air
  22. board — to get on
  23. stock — shares
  24. mate — a friend

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