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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. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  2. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  3. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  4. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  5. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  6. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  7. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  8. How do you ________________ your surname?
  9. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  10. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  11. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  12. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  13. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  14. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  15. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  16. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  17. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  18. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  19. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  20. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  21. He is an ace ________________.
  22. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  23. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  24. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.

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

Answer key

  1. content — the amount
  2. chip — in a computer
  3. chair — a leader
  4. kid — to tease
  5. content — happy
  6. content — videos and posts
  7. kid — child
  8. spell — letters
  9. chip — to eat
  10. chair — to sit on
  11. bark — a dog's sound
  12. pitcher — a jug
  13. spell — a short time
  14. pitcher — a jug
  15. bark — of a tree
  16. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  17. chair — a professorship
  18. present — a gift
  19. spell — magic
  20. present — there
  21. pitcher — in baseball
  22. bark — to shout
  23. chip — for betting
  24. present — the time now

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