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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. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  3. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  4. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  5. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  6. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  7. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  8. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  9. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  10. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  11. How do you ________________ your surname?
  12. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  13. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  14. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  15. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  16. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  17. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  18. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  19. He is an ace ________________.
  20. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  21. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  22. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  23. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  24. I have a corn on my right ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. wound — past of 'wind'
  3. dip — to dunk
  4. rule — government
  5. dip — a sauce
  6. pitcher — a jug
  7. file — a tool
  8. pitcher — a jug
  9. file — a line of people
  10. content — videos and posts
  11. spell — letters
  12. rule — to rule out
  13. wound — an injury
  14. spell — a short time
  15. spell — magic
  16. foot — the bottom
  17. foot — a measure
  18. rule — a law
  19. pitcher — in baseball
  20. dip — to sink
  21. file — a document
  22. wound — an injury
  23. content — the amount
  24. foot — part of the body

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