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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. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  3. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  4. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  5. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  6. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  7. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  8. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  9. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  10. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  11. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  12. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  13. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  14. That must've been a ________________.
  15. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  16. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  17. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  18. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  19. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  20. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  21. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  22. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  23. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  24. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. drill — the tool
  3. straw — a straw man
  4. rush — to hurry
  5. staff — a stick
  6. branch — of a bank
  7. staff — employees
  8. calf — a young animal
  9. drill — a practice
  10. rush — hurry
  11. straw — dry grass
  12. content — the amount
  13. lean — to rest against
  14. rush — a thrill
  15. lean — to bend
  16. lean — thin
  17. branch — of a tree
  18. content — videos and posts
  19. straw — to clutch at straws
  20. branch — a division
  21. drill — army training
  22. staff — employees
  23. calf — of the leg
  24. calf — a young animal

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