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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 116 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. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  3. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  4. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  5. Don't do anything ________________.
  6. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  7. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  8. It's one o'clock ________________.
  9. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  10. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  11. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  12. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  13. I can't ________________ this cold.
  14. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  15. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  16. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  17. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  18. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  19. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  20. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  21. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  22. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  23. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  24. He's quite ________________, isn't he?

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. bark — to shout
  3. sharp — with an edge
  4. rock — a stone
  5. rash — hasty
  6. wound — past of 'wind'
  7. rock — to move gently
  8. sharp — exactly
  9. present — a gift
  10. wound — an injury
  11. rock — music
  12. wound — an injury
  13. stand — to bear
  14. stand — for spectators
  15. present — the time now
  16. bark — of a tree
  17. rash — a series
  18. bark — a dog's sound
  19. rash — on the skin
  20. content — the amount
  21. present — there
  22. content — videos and posts
  23. stand — on your feet
  24. sharp — clever

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