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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 ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  2. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  3. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  4. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. He is an ace ________________.
  7. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  8. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  13. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  14. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  15. The King held a masked ________________.
  16. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  17. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  18. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  19. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  20. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  21. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  22. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  23. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  24. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.

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

Answer key

  1. dip — a sauce
  2. dip — to sink
  3. content — happy
  4. content — videos and posts
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. pitcher — in baseball
  7. snap — to click
  8. wind — moving air
  9. cold — not warm
  10. wind — moving air
  11. cold — an illness
  12. pitcher — a jug
  13. ball — a round shape
  14. bark — of a tree
  15. ball — a dance
  16. content — the amount
  17. bark — to shout
  18. dip — to dunk
  19. bark — a dog's sound
  20. snap — to snap out of it
  21. ball — a great time
  22. wind — to turn a key
  23. snap — to speak sharply
  24. pitcher — a jug

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