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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. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  2. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  3. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  4. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  5. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  6. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  7. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  8. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  9. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  10. It's one o'clock ________________.
  11. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  12. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  13. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  14. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  15. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  16. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  17. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  18. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  19. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  20. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  21. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  22. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  23. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  24. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a ring
  2. lean — thin
  3. content — the amount
  4. kid — to tease
  5. band — a music group
  6. lash — to lash out
  7. rest — a break
  8. squash — the sport
  9. lean — to bend
  10. sharp — exactly
  11. sharp — clever
  12. kid — child
  13. lash — a whip stroke
  14. band — a rubber band
  15. squash — the vegetable
  16. lean — to rest against
  17. rest — what's left
  18. sharp — with an edge
  19. lash — an eyelash
  20. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  21. rest — what's left
  22. content — videos and posts
  23. content — happy
  24. squash — to crush

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