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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. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  3. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  4. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  5. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  6. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  7. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  8. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  9. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  10. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  11. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  12. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  13. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  14. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  15. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  16. The ball is in your ________________.
  17. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  18. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  19. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  20. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  21. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  22. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  23. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  24. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. hand — help
  3. chest — of your body
  4. content — the amount
  5. hand — part of the body
  6. rest — what's left
  7. rest — what's left
  8. club — for dancing
  9. content — videos and posts
  10. shower — rain
  11. lash — an eyelash
  12. hand — in cards
  13. chest — a box
  14. lash — to lash out
  15. court — of a king
  16. court — for sport
  17. shower — to wash
  18. club — a group
  19. shower — a meteor shower
  20. club — for golf
  21. chest — of your body
  22. court — of law
  23. rest — a break
  24. lash — a whip stroke

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