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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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468
Word bank
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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. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  3. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  6. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  7. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  8. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  9. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  10. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  11. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  12. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  13. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  14. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  15. My mare is ________________ in color.
  16. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  21. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  22. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  23. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  24. We ________________ up on opposing sides.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. racket — a loud noise
  3. rule — to rule out
  4. cold — an illness
  5. bay — to keep at bay
  6. leaves — lets stay
  7. chest — of your body
  8. content — the amount
  9. wound — an injury
  10. chest — of your body
  11. content — videos and posts
  12. chest — a box
  13. leaves — to go away
  14. racket — for tennis
  15. bay — a horse colour
  16. wound — an injury
  17. cold — not warm
  18. racket — for tennis
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. leaves — of a tree
  21. rule — government
  22. rule — a law
  23. bay — a part of the sea
  24. wound — past of 'wind'

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