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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. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  3. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  4. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  5. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  6. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  7. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  8. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  9. The ________________ market has crashed.
  10. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  11. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  12. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  13. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  14. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  15. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  16. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  17. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  18. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  19. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  20. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  21. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  22. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  23. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  24. This piece is in a major ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. lean — to rest against
  3. key — the most important part
  4. snap — to snap out of it
  5. lean — thin
  6. snap — to click
  7. cap — of ice
  8. foot — the bottom
  9. stock — shares
  10. bass — the instrument
  11. bass — low music
  12. content — the amount
  13. lean — to bend
  14. foot — part of the body
  15. cap — a hat
  16. key — for a lock
  17. foot — a measure
  18. cap — a lid
  19. stock — goods
  20. content — videos and posts
  21. snap — to speak sharply
  22. stock — a soup base
  23. bass — the fish
  24. key — in music

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