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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've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  3. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  4. The ________________ went through the wall.
  5. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  6. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  7. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  8. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  9. How do you ________________ your surname?
  10. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  11. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  12. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  13. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  14. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  15. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  16. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  17. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  18. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  19. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  20. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  21. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  22. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  23. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  24. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. spell — a short time
  3. leaves — lets stay
  4. nail — for a hammer
  5. cue — a hint
  6. nail — on a finger
  7. wind — moving air
  8. row — a quarrel
  9. spell — letters
  10. cue — a signal
  11. spell — magic
  12. leaves — of a tree
  13. row — a line
  14. wind — moving air
  15. drill — the tool
  16. row — to paddle
  17. drill — army training
  18. content — videos and posts
  19. content — the amount
  20. drill — a practice
  21. leaves — to go away
  22. wind — to turn a key
  23. nail — for a hammer
  24. cue — for pool

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