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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. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  2. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  3. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  4. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  5. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  6. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  7. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  8. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  9. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  10. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  11. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  12. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  13. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  14. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  15. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  16. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  17. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  18. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  19. David sat on the ________________.
  20. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  21. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  22. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  23. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  24. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.

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

Answer key

  1. content — videos and posts
  2. content — happy
  3. lash — to lash out
  4. file — a line of people
  5. row — to paddle
  6. kick — in football
  7. bank — for money
  8. lash — a whip stroke
  9. swing — music
  10. content — the amount
  11. kick — a thrill
  12. lash — an eyelash
  13. row — a line
  14. row — a quarrel
  15. scale — for weighing
  16. bank — for money
  17. scale — size or range
  18. swing — in golf
  19. swing — to play on
  20. bank — of a river
  21. kick — with a leg
  22. scale — in music
  23. file — a tool
  24. file — a document

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