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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. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  3. It's one o'clock ________________.
  4. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  5. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  6. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  7. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  8. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  9. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  10. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  11. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  12. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  13. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  14. David sat on the ________________.
  15. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  16. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  17. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  18. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  19. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  20. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  21. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  22. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  23. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  24. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. swing — in golf
  3. sharp — exactly
  4. swing — music
  5. wind — moving air
  6. root — of a plant
  7. board — to get on
  8. root — of a word
  9. wind — moving air
  10. sharp — with an edge
  11. file — a line of people
  12. patient — calm and waiting
  13. content — the amount
  14. swing — to play on
  15. file — a document
  16. board — a flat piece
  17. content — videos and posts
  18. wind — to turn a key
  19. patient — a sick person
  20. board — a committee
  21. file — a tool
  22. patient — a sick person
  23. sharp — clever
  24. root — the cause

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