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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. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  3. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  4. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  5. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  6. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  7. When was this ________________ built?
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  10. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  11. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  12. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  13. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  16. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  17. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  18. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  19. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  22. I'll be taking the ________________.
  23. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  24. That must've been a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. temple — a place of worship
  3. tube — in a tire
  4. rule — a law
  5. tube — a container
  6. content — the amount
  7. temple — a place of worship
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. track — a song
  10. track — a path
  11. wind — moving air
  12. content — videos and posts
  13. rule — to rule out
  14. cold — not warm
  15. rule — government
  16. rush — hurry
  17. wind — to turn a key
  18. track — to keep track
  19. temple — side of the head
  20. cold — an illness
  21. wind — moving air
  22. tube — the underground
  23. rush — to hurry
  24. rush — a thrill

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