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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. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  3. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  4. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  5. The ball is in your ________________.
  6. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  7. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  8. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  9. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  10. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  11. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  12. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  13. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  14. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  15. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  16. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  17. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  18. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  19. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  20. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  21. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  22. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  23. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  24. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. race — the arms race
  3. bear — to put up with
  4. rule — government
  5. court — for sport
  6. court — of a king
  7. court — of law
  8. toast — bread
  9. toast — the most admired
  10. snap — to click
  11. bear — the animal
  12. file — a tool
  13. bear — the animal
  14. snap — to speak sharply
  15. file — a document
  16. content — videos and posts
  17. content — the amount
  18. rule — a law
  19. race — a contest
  20. race — humankind
  21. snap — to snap out of it
  22. file — a line of people
  23. toast — a drink to someone
  24. rule — to rule out

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