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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. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  2. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  3. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  4. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  5. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  6. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  7. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  8. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  9. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  10. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  11. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  12. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  13. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  14. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  15. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  16. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  17. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  18. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  19. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  20. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  21. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  22. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  23. David sat on the ________________.
  24. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.

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

Answer key

  1. drill — a practice
  2. content — happy
  3. drill — the tool
  4. squash — the sport
  5. wind — moving air
  6. drill — army training
  7. wind — moving air
  8. hand — part of the body
  9. squash — the vegetable
  10. hand — help
  11. wind — to turn a key
  12. wake — to stop sleeping
  13. wake — before a funeral
  14. swing — in golf
  15. squash — to crush
  16. content — the amount
  17. hand — in cards
  18. pit — in a race
  19. swing — music
  20. pit — a hole
  21. pit — a fruit stone
  22. content — videos and posts
  23. swing — to play on
  24. wake — a trail

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