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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. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  2. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  3. That was a fun ________________.
  4. That must've been a ________________.
  5. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  8. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  9. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  10. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  13. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  16. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  17. When will it ________________ you to start?
  18. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  19. False peace will not ________________.
  20. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  21. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  22. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  23. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  24. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rush — hurry
  2. suit — in cards
  3. game — a match
  4. rush — a thrill
  5. bear — the animal
  6. cold — not warm
  7. rest — a break
  8. content — the amount
  9. bear — the animal
  10. bear — to put up with
  11. cold — an illness
  12. suit — clothes
  13. rush — to hurry
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. content — videos and posts
  16. rest — what's left
  17. suit — to fit
  18. last — final
  19. last — to go on
  20. last — finally
  21. rest — what's left
  22. game — wild animals
  23. game — a kind of play
  24. content — happy

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