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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. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  2. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  3. It's one o'clock ________________.
  4. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  5. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  6. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  7. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  8. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  9. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  10. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  11. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  12. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  13. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  14. The King held a masked ________________.
  15. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  16. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  17. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  18. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  19. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  20. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  21. We're almost out of ________________.
  22. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  23. You don't need to ________________ round.
  24. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. present — there
  2. content — happy
  3. sharp — exactly
  4. ball — a great time
  5. content — videos and posts
  6. chip — to eat
  7. content — the amount
  8. sharp — with an edge
  9. pop — music
  10. chest — of your body
  11. file — a line of people
  12. present — the time now
  13. chip — for betting
  14. ball — a dance
  15. chest — a box
  16. file — a document
  17. chest — of your body
  18. ball — a round shape
  19. sharp — clever
  20. present — a gift
  21. pop — soda
  22. chip — in a computer
  23. pop — to visit
  24. file — a tool

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