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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. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  5. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  6. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  7. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  8. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  9. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  10. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  11. She's very handy with a ________________.
  12. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  13. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  16. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  17. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  18. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  19. He works in a ________________ mill.
  20. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  21. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  22. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  23. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. drill — army training
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. foot — a measure
  5. fan — a supporter
  6. content — videos and posts
  7. bank — of a river
  8. mark — to pay attention
  9. fan — a supporter
  10. drill — the tool
  11. saw — the tool
  12. bank — for money
  13. bank — for money
  14. cold — an illness
  15. drill — a practice
  16. fan — to cool the air
  17. foot — part of the body
  18. foot — the bottom
  19. saw — the tool
  20. saw — past of 'see'
  21. mark — a trace
  22. mark — a grade
  23. content — the amount
  24. cold — not warm

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