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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. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  2. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  3. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  4. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  5. That must've been a ________________.
  6. He was locked up in a ________________.
  7. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  8. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  9. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  10. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  11. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  12. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  13. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  14. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  15. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  16. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  17. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  18. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  19. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  20. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  21. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  22. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  23. David sat on the ________________.
  24. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.

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

Answer key

  1. rush — hurry
  2. content — happy
  3. pitch — a sports field
  4. content — the amount
  5. rush — a thrill
  6. cell — in a prison
  7. swing — music
  8. straw — a straw man
  9. straw — dry grass
  10. drill — the tool
  11. pitch — completely
  12. drill — a practice
  13. content — videos and posts
  14. drill — army training
  15. pitch — a sales talk
  16. foot — a measure
  17. rush — to hurry
  18. foot — the bottom
  19. cell — a phone
  20. foot — part of the body
  21. swing — in golf
  22. straw — to clutch at straws
  23. swing — to play on
  24. cell — in biology

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