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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 120 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 need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  3. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  4. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  5. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  6. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  7. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  8. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  9. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  10. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  11. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  12. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  13. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  14. My father caught me by the ________________.
  15. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  16. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  17. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  18. The King held a masked ________________.
  19. David sat on the ________________.
  20. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  21. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  22. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  23. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  24. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. root — the cause
  3. wind — moving air
  4. pit — a fruit stone
  5. lash — to lash out
  6. arm — part of the body
  7. swing — music
  8. ball — a round shape
  9. content — videos and posts
  10. ball — a great time
  11. lash — a whip stroke
  12. wind — to turn a key
  13. pit — a hole
  14. arm — part of the body
  15. lash — an eyelash
  16. root — of a plant
  17. arm — a part of something
  18. ball — a dance
  19. swing — to play on
  20. wind — moving air
  21. content — the amount
  22. root — of a word
  23. pit — in a race
  24. swing — in golf

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