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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. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  3. Have you settled on a ________________?
  4. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  5. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  6. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  7. I'll be taking the ________________.
  8. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  9. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  10. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  11. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  12. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  13. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  14. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  15. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  16. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  17. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  18. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  19. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  20. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  21. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  22. The King held a masked ________________.
  23. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  24. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. snap — to speak sharply
  3. date — on the calendar
  4. scale — for weighing
  5. snap — to click
  6. ball — a round shape
  7. tube — the underground
  8. date — on the calendar
  9. track — to keep track
  10. track — a path
  11. race — humankind
  12. tube — in a tire
  13. content — the amount
  14. date — the fruit
  15. track — a song
  16. snap — to snap out of it
  17. scale — in music
  18. tube — a container
  19. scale — size or range
  20. ball — a great time
  21. content — videos and posts
  22. ball — a dance
  23. race — the arms race
  24. race — a contest

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