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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 116 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 had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  3. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  4. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  5. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  6. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  7. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  8. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  9. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  10. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  11. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  12. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  13. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  14. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  15. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  16. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  17. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  18. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  19. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  20. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  21. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  22. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  23. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  24. He hit the ball with his ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. row — to paddle
  3. row — a quarrel
  4. pit — a fruit stone
  5. lean — thin
  6. band — a music group
  7. row — a line
  8. lean — to bend
  9. content — videos and posts
  10. band — a rubber band
  11. racket — for tennis
  12. pit — in a race
  13. band — a ring
  14. pit — a hole
  15. hand — help
  16. racket — a loud noise
  17. lean — to rest against
  18. content — the amount
  19. march — the month
  20. hand — in cards
  21. hand — part of the body
  22. march — music
  23. march — the month
  24. racket — for tennis

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