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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. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  2. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  3. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  4. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  5. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  6. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  7. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  8. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  9. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  10. He is an ace ________________.
  11. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  12. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  13. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  14. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  15. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  16. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  17. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  18. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  19. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  20. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  21. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  22. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  23. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  24. Check the label for the sugar ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. content — videos and posts
  4. pitcher — a jug
  5. lie — to recline
  6. bark — a dog's sound
  7. chair — a leader
  8. content — happy
  9. hide — animal skin
  10. pitcher — in baseball
  11. chair — a professorship
  12. hide — to keep secret
  13. chair — to sit on
  14. race — humankind
  15. lie — an untruth
  16. bark — to shout
  17. wind — to turn a key
  18. lie — an untruth
  19. race — a contest
  20. race — the arms race
  21. bark — of a tree
  22. wind — moving air
  23. hide — to keep secret
  24. content — the amount

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