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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. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  3. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  4. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  5. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  6. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  7. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  8. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  9. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  10. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  11. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  12. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  13. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  14. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  15. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  16. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  17. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  18. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  19. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  20. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  21. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  22. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  23. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  24. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. dip — to sink
  3. present — there
  4. present — a gift
  5. dip — a sauce
  6. staff — employees
  7. bark — a dog's sound
  8. staff — a stick
  9. fall — the season
  10. fall — to drop
  11. dip — to dunk
  12. scale — in music
  13. content — videos and posts
  14. scale — size or range
  15. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  16. bark — of a tree
  17. scale — for weighing
  18. fall — to drop
  19. staff — employees
  20. present — the time now
  21. kid — to tease
  22. bark — to shout
  23. content — the amount
  24. kid — child

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