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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 116 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. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  2. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  3. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  4. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  5. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  6. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  7. He is an ace ________________.
  8. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  9. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  10. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  11. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  12. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  13. That must've been a ________________.
  14. This piece is in a major ________________.
  15. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  16. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  17. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  18. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  19. Did you ________________ the meat?
  20. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  21. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  22. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  23. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  24. Check the label for the sugar ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — to sit on
  2. content — happy
  3. rush — hurry
  4. season — of the year
  5. snap — to snap out of it
  6. snap — to speak sharply
  7. pitcher — in baseball
  8. chair — a professorship
  9. content — videos and posts
  10. rush — to hurry
  11. pitcher — a jug
  12. key — the most important part
  13. rush — a thrill
  14. key — in music
  15. cap — a hat
  16. chair — a leader
  17. key — for a lock
  18. cap — a lid
  19. season — to add flavour
  20. season — in sport
  21. snap — to click
  22. cap — of ice
  23. pitcher — a jug
  24. content — the amount

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