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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. Did you ________________ the meat?
  2. When will it ________________ you to start?
  3. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  4. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  5. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  6. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  7. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  8. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  9. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  10. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  11. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  12. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  13. False peace will not ________________.
  14. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  15. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  16. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  17. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  18. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  19. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  20. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  21. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  22. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  23. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  24. We ________________ up on opposing sides.

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

Answer key

  1. season — to add flavour
  2. suit — to fit
  3. suit — in cards
  4. bowl — a football final
  5. chair — to sit on
  6. bowl — a dish
  7. chair — a leader
  8. hand — help
  9. season — of the year
  10. suit — clothes
  11. bowl — to roll
  12. season — in sport
  13. last — to go on
  14. wound — an injury
  15. content — happy
  16. hand — part of the body
  17. hand — in cards
  18. last — final
  19. chair — a professorship
  20. last — finally
  21. content — videos and posts
  22. content — the amount
  23. wound — an injury
  24. wound — past of 'wind'

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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