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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. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  2. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  5. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  6. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  7. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  12. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  13. What do you think of the new ________________?
  14. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  15. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  16. We're on a ________________ here.
  17. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  18. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  19. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  20. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  21. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  22. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  23. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  24. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.

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

Answer key

  1. roll — a cake
  2. cabinet — a cupboard
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. content — happy
  5. row — a line
  6. deal — an agreement
  7. deal — to handle
  8. cold — not warm
  9. cabinet — ministers
  10. cold — an illness
  11. jam — a tight spot
  12. capital — a big letter
  13. cabinet — ministers
  14. jam — to spread on bread
  15. jam — in traffic
  16. roll — on a roll
  17. content — the amount
  18. row — a quarrel
  19. deal — a big deal
  20. capital — a city
  21. content — videos and posts
  22. roll — a list
  23. capital — money
  24. row — to paddle

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