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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. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  2. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  3. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  4. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  5. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  6. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  7. There's no middle ________________.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  10. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  13. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  14. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  15. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  16. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  17. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  18. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  19. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  20. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  23. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  24. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.

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

Answer key

  1. racket — a loud noise
  2. racket — for tennis
  3. ground — the earth
  4. content — happy
  5. dip — to dunk
  6. dip — a sauce
  7. ground — a position
  8. cold — an illness
  9. stick — a piece of wood
  10. content — the amount
  11. cold — not warm
  12. craft — a skill
  13. straw — dry grass
  14. stick — to attach or keep to
  15. dip — to sink
  16. content — videos and posts
  17. racket — for tennis
  18. straw — a straw man
  19. craft — boats
  20. straw — to clutch at straws
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. ground — crushed
  23. stick — a piece of wood
  24. craft — a handicraft

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