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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. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  2. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  3. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  4. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  5. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  6. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  7. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  8. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  9. Have you settled on a ________________?
  10. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  11. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  12. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  13. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  14. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  15. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  16. That was a fun ________________.
  17. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  18. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  19. He is an ace ________________.
  20. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  21. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  22. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  23. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  24. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.

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

Answer key

  1. present — there
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. content — happy
  4. content — the amount
  5. present — the time now
  6. straw — to clutch at straws
  7. content — videos and posts
  8. game — wild animals
  9. date — on the calendar
  10. date — on the calendar
  11. pit — a hole
  12. game — a kind of play
  13. straw — dry grass
  14. lean — thin
  15. pitcher — a jug
  16. game — a match
  17. pit — in a race
  18. lean — to bend
  19. pitcher — in baseball
  20. date — the fruit
  21. pit — a fruit stone
  22. present — a gift
  23. lean — to rest against
  24. straw — a straw man

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