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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 120 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. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  3. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  4. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  5. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  6. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  7. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  8. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  9. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  10. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  11. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  12. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  13. When are we going to ________________?
  14. He is an ace ________________.
  15. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  16. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  17. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  18. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  19. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  20. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  21. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  22. When was this ________________ built?
  23. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  24. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. snap — to speak sharply
  3. fan — a supporter
  4. snap — to snap out of it
  5. content — videos and posts
  6. fan — to cool the air
  7. pitcher — a jug
  8. temple — a place of worship
  9. staff — employees
  10. fan — a supporter
  11. temple — side of the head
  12. snap — to click
  13. land — to come down
  14. pitcher — in baseball
  15. land — a country
  16. pitcher — a jug
  17. staff — employees
  18. bat — for baseball
  19. bat — the animal
  20. land — ground
  21. content — the amount
  22. temple — a place of worship
  23. staff — a stick
  24. bat — in an idiom

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