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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. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  2. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  3. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  4. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  5. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  6. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  7. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  8. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  9. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  10. It's one o'clock ________________.
  11. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  12. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  13. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  14. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  15. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  16. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  17. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  18. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  19. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  20. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  21. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  22. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  23. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  24. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. dip — to dunk
  3. mine — belonging to me
  4. sharp — clever
  5. deal — a big deal
  6. squash — the vegetable
  7. squash — the sport
  8. content — happy
  9. content — videos and posts
  10. sharp — exactly
  11. dip — to sink
  12. mine — for digging
  13. squash — to crush
  14. content — the amount
  15. row — to paddle
  16. wind — moving air
  17. deal — to handle
  18. dip — a sauce
  19. row — a quarrel
  20. mine — an explosive
  21. sharp — with an edge
  22. row — a line
  23. wind — to turn a key
  24. deal — an agreement

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