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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 120 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. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  3. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  4. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  5. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  6. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  7. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  8. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  9. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  10. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  11. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  12. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  13. He was locked up in a ________________.
  14. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  15. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  16. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  17. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  18. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  19. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  20. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  21. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  22. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  23. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  24. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. club — for golf
  3. snap — to click
  4. wound — past of 'wind'
  5. cell — a phone
  6. snap — to speak sharply
  7. chip — in a computer
  8. content — the amount
  9. wound — an injury
  10. club — a group
  11. drill — the tool
  12. snap — to snap out of it
  13. cell — in a prison
  14. content — videos and posts
  15. chip — for betting
  16. drill — a practice
  17. cell — in biology
  18. drill — army training
  19. bark — to shout
  20. wound — an injury
  21. club — for dancing
  22. bark — a dog's sound
  23. chip — to eat
  24. bark — of a tree

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