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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. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  3. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  4. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  5. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  6. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  7. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  8. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  9. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  10. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  11. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  12. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  13. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  14. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  15. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  16. False peace will not ________________.
  17. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  18. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  19. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  20. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  21. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  22. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  23. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  24. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. hand — help
  3. bark — a dog's sound
  4. content — the amount
  5. bark — to shout
  6. squash — the vegetable
  7. content — videos and posts
  8. rule — to rule out
  9. root — the cause
  10. rule — a law
  11. root — of a plant
  12. mine — for digging
  13. last — finally
  14. squash — the sport
  15. squash — to crush
  16. last — to go on
  17. hand — part of the body
  18. root — of a word
  19. mine — an explosive
  20. rule — government
  21. last — final
  22. bark — of a tree
  23. hand — in cards
  24. mine — belonging to me

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