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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. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  2. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  3. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  4. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  5. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  6. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  7. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  8. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  9. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  10. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  11. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  12. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  13. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  14. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  15. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  16. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  17. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  18. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  19. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  20. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  21. That was a fun ________________.
  22. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  23. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  24. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.

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

Answer key

  1. mouse — the animal
  2. dip — to sink
  3. content — happy
  4. content — videos and posts
  5. mouse — for a computer
  6. prune — to trim
  7. mouse — the animal
  8. dip — a sauce
  9. march — music
  10. prune — the fruit
  11. chest — of your body
  12. prune — to trim
  13. wake — to stop sleeping
  14. game — wild animals
  15. chest — of your body
  16. march — the month
  17. wake — a trail
  18. dip — to dunk
  19. chest — a box
  20. content — the amount
  21. game — a match
  22. wake — before a funeral
  23. march — the month
  24. game — a kind of play

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