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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. That must've been a ________________.
  3. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  4. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  5. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  6. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  7. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  8. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  9. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  10. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  11. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  12. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  13. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  14. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  15. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  16. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  17. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  18. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  19. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  20. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  21. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  22. Did you ________________ the meat?
  23. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  24. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. rush — a thrill
  3. pitch — a sales talk
  4. content — the amount
  5. lean — thin
  6. deal — an agreement
  7. race — the arms race
  8. pitch — a sports field
  9. rush — to hurry
  10. bat — the animal
  11. content — videos and posts
  12. race — a contest
  13. race — humankind
  14. season — of the year
  15. season — in sport
  16. rush — hurry
  17. lean — to bend
  18. bat — in an idiom
  19. lean — to rest against
  20. deal — a big deal
  21. bat — for baseball
  22. season — to add flavour
  23. pitch — completely
  24. deal — to handle

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