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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. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  2. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  3. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  4. That was ________________ to happen.
  5. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  6. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  7. Don't do anything ________________.
  8. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  9. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  10. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  11. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  12. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  13. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  14. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  15. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  16. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  17. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  18. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  19. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  20. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  21. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  22. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  23. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  24. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — in football
  2. content — happy
  3. craft — a handicraft
  4. bound — certain
  5. craft — a skill
  6. hand — help
  7. rash — hasty
  8. craft — boats
  9. content — the amount
  10. bound — obliged
  11. lean — to bend
  12. bat — in an idiom
  13. bound — tied together
  14. bat — for baseball
  15. lean — thin
  16. rash — on the skin
  17. kick — a thrill
  18. hand — in cards
  19. kick — with a leg
  20. hand — part of the body
  21. content — videos and posts
  22. lean — to rest against
  23. bat — the animal
  24. rash — a series

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