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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. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  3. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  4. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  5. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  6. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  7. What do you think of the new ________________?
  8. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  9. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  10. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  11. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  12. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  13. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  14. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  15. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  16. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  17. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  18. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  19. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  20. He is an ace ________________.
  21. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  22. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  23. I can't ________________ this cold.
  24. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. bat — the animal
  4. stand — on your feet
  5. bear — the animal
  6. can — a tin
  7. cabinet — ministers
  8. stand — for spectators
  9. can — a tin
  10. bear — to put up with
  11. can — to be able to
  12. file — a line of people
  13. content — videos and posts
  14. cabinet — a cupboard
  15. file — a tool
  16. file — a document
  17. bat — in an idiom
  18. content — the amount
  19. bear — the animal
  20. pitcher — in baseball
  21. cabinet — ministers
  22. pitcher — a jug
  23. stand — to bear
  24. bat — for baseball

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