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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. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  5. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  6. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  7. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  8. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  9. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  13. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  14. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  15. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  16. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  17. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  18. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  19. That must've been a ________________.
  20. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  21. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  22. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  23. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  24. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. calf — of the leg
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. bowl — a football final
  5. bear — to put up with
  6. rest — what's left
  7. rush — hurry
  8. content — videos and posts
  9. bear — the animal
  10. cold — not warm
  11. cold — an illness
  12. calf — a young animal
  13. bowl — a dish
  14. branch — of a bank
  15. calf — a young animal
  16. rest — what's left
  17. rest — a break
  18. branch — a division
  19. rush — a thrill
  20. rush — to hurry
  21. content — the amount
  22. bear — the animal
  23. bowl — to roll
  24. branch — of a tree

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