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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. That must've been a ________________.
  2. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  3. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  4. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  5. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  6. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  7. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  8. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  9. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  10. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  11. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  12. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  13. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  14. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  15. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  16. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  17. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  18. That was a fun ________________.
  19. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  20. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  21. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  22. Where did you ________________ them?
  23. Did you ________________ the meat?
  24. We ________________ up on opposing sides.

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

Answer key

  1. rush — a thrill
  2. rush — hurry
  3. rush — to hurry
  4. season — in sport
  5. content — happy
  6. mug — a face
  7. season — of the year
  8. wound — an injury
  9. snap — to speak sharply
  10. snap — to click
  11. scale — size or range
  12. snap — to snap out of it
  13. scale — for weighing
  14. wound — an injury
  15. content — videos and posts
  16. game — a kind of play
  17. game — wild animals
  18. game — a match
  19. scale — in music
  20. mug — a cup
  21. content — the amount
  22. mug — to rob
  23. season — to add flavour
  24. wound — past of 'wind'

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