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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. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  3. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  4. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  5. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  6. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  7. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  8. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  9. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  10. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  11. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  12. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  13. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  14. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  15. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  16. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  17. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  18. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  19. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  20. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  21. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  22. The ________________ market has crashed.
  23. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  24. He's taking a ________________ right now.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. snap — to snap out of it
  3. patient — a sick person
  4. patient — calm and waiting
  5. straw — a straw man
  6. fine — high quality
  7. straw — to clutch at straws
  8. content — videos and posts
  9. net — for catching
  10. stock — goods
  11. straw — dry grass
  12. shower — a meteor shower
  13. shower — rain
  14. patient — a sick person
  15. stock — a soup base
  16. content — the amount
  17. net — in sport
  18. snap — to speak sharply
  19. fine — all right
  20. snap — to click
  21. net — after costs
  22. stock — shares
  23. fine — a penalty
  24. shower — to wash

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