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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. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  3. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  4. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  5. Don't do anything ________________.
  6. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  7. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  8. My mare is ________________ in color.
  9. The ________________ went through the wall.
  10. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  11. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  12. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  13. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  14. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  15. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  16. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  17. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  20. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. How do you ________________ your surname?
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. content — the amount
  3. bark — of a tree
  4. spell — magic
  5. rash — hasty
  6. rash — on the skin
  7. deal — a big deal
  8. bay — a horse colour
  9. nail — for a hammer
  10. bay — a part of the sea
  11. bay — to keep at bay
  12. bark — a dog's sound
  13. spell — a short time
  14. deal — an agreement
  15. rash — a series
  16. deal — to handle
  17. nail — for a hammer
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. content — videos and posts
  20. bark — to shout
  21. cold — not warm
  22. spell — letters
  23. cold — an illness
  24. nail — on a finger

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