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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. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  2. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  3. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  4. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  5. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  6. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  7. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  8. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  9. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  10. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  11. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  12. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  13. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  14. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  15. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  16. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  17. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  18. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  19. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  20. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  21. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  22. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  23. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  24. I got dealt a bad ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wave — a sudden rise
  2. content — happy
  3. wave — of the sea
  4. craft — a skill
  5. row — to paddle
  6. face — to confront
  7. face — to point toward
  8. wave — with your hand
  9. hand — part of the body
  10. hand — help
  11. file — a tool
  12. craft — a handicraft
  13. file — a document
  14. content — videos and posts
  15. row — a line
  16. chair — to sit on
  17. row — a quarrel
  18. chair — a professorship
  19. content — the amount
  20. face — part of the head
  21. file — a line of people
  22. chair — a leader
  23. craft — boats
  24. hand — in cards

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