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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 teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  3. The light ________________ burned out.
  4. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  5. Did you ________________ the button?
  6. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  7. I've got to change the light ________________.
  8. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  9. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  10. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  11. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  12. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  13. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  14. How do you ________________ your surname?
  15. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  16. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  17. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  18. He is an ace ________________.
  19. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  20. We're on a ________________ here.
  21. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  22. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  23. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  24. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. roll — a list
  3. bulb — for light
  4. content — the amount
  5. press — to push
  6. bulb — of a plant
  7. bulb — for light
  8. chest — of your body
  9. spell — magic
  10. calf — a young animal
  11. content — videos and posts
  12. pitcher — a jug
  13. calf — a young animal
  14. spell — letters
  15. roll — a cake
  16. calf — of the leg
  17. spell — a short time
  18. pitcher — in baseball
  19. chest — of your body
  20. roll — on a roll
  21. press — a publisher
  22. pitcher — a jug
  23. press — newspapers
  24. chest — a box

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