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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 116 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. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  3. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  4. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  5. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  6. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  7. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  8. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  9. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  10. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  11. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  12. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  13. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  14. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  15. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  16. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  17. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  18. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  19. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  20. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  21. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  22. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  23. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  24. We took cover from the thunder ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. march — the month
  3. straw — a straw man
  4. snap — to click
  5. content — videos and posts
  6. march — the month
  7. chip — to eat
  8. straw — to clutch at straws
  9. track — to keep track
  10. shower — a meteor shower
  11. snap — to speak sharply
  12. board — a committee
  13. snap — to snap out of it
  14. content — the amount
  15. straw — dry grass
  16. track — a song
  17. board — a flat piece
  18. chip — for betting
  19. track — a path
  20. chip — in a computer
  21. board — to get on
  22. march — music
  23. shower — to wash
  24. shower — rain

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