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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. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  3. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  4. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  5. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  6. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  7. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  8. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  9. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  10. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  11. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  12. That must've been a ________________.
  13. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  14. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  15. Did you ________________ the button?
  16. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  17. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  18. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  19. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  20. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  21. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  22. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  23. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  24. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. straw — a straw man
  3. press — a publisher
  4. rest — a break
  5. rush — hurry
  6. spring — of water
  7. row — a quarrel
  8. row — to paddle
  9. content — videos and posts
  10. content — the amount
  11. straw — to clutch at straws
  12. rush — a thrill
  13. row — a line
  14. rest — what's left
  15. press — to push
  16. straw — dry grass
  17. spring — the season
  18. rock — to move gently
  19. rock — a stone
  20. rock — music
  21. spring — a coil
  22. press — newspapers
  23. rush — to hurry
  24. rest — what's left

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