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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. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  3. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  4. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  5. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  6. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  7. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  8. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  9. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  10. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  11. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  12. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  13. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  14. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  15. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  16. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  17. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  18. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  19. Have you met the new head ________________?
  20. He is an ace ________________.
  21. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  22. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  23. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  24. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. coach — pulled by horses
  3. bowl — a dish
  4. toast — bread
  5. bowl — to roll
  6. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  7. band — a ring
  8. content — the amount
  9. net — after costs
  10. kid — child
  11. band — a music group
  12. pitcher — a jug
  13. band — a rubber band
  14. net — for catching
  15. pitcher — a jug
  16. net — in sport
  17. toast — a drink to someone
  18. kid — to tease
  19. coach — a trainer
  20. pitcher — in baseball
  21. content — videos and posts
  22. coach — a trainer
  23. toast — the most admired
  24. bowl — a football final

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