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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. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  3. That must've been a ________________.
  4. The tickets are free of ________________.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  7. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  8. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  9. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  10. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  11. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  12. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  15. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  16. My father caught me by the ________________.
  17. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  18. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  19. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  20. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  21. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  22. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  23. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  24. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. content — happy
  3. rush — a thrill
  4. charge — a price
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. squash — the sport
  7. squash — the vegetable
  8. arm — a part of something
  9. vault — a safe
  10. hand — in cards
  11. vault — in gymnastics
  12. hand — help
  13. cold — not warm
  14. vault — an arched ceiling
  15. content — the amount
  16. arm — part of the body
  17. charge — electricity
  18. charge — in control
  19. squash — to crush
  20. rush — to hurry
  21. hand — part of the body
  22. rush — hurry
  23. arm — part of the body
  24. content — videos and posts

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