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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. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  3. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  4. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  5. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  6. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  7. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  8. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  9. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  10. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  13. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  16. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  17. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  18. That must've been a ________________.
  19. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  20. He is an ace ________________.
  21. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  22. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  23. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  24. You shouldn't ________________ things.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. hand — part of the body
  3. fork — in a road
  4. lean — thin
  5. fork — to eat with
  6. content — videos and posts
  7. fan — to cool the air
  8. rush — hurry
  9. fan — a supporter
  10. lean — to rest against
  11. clip — to cut
  12. lean — to bend
  13. hand — in cards
  14. clip — a video
  15. fan — a supporter
  16. pitcher — a jug
  17. clip — for paper
  18. rush — a thrill
  19. hand — help
  20. pitcher — in baseball
  21. content — the amount
  22. pitcher — a jug
  23. fork — a garden tool
  24. rush — to hurry

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