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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. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  3. The King held a masked ________________.
  4. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  5. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  6. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  7. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  8. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  9. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  10. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  11. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  12. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  13. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  14. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  15. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  16. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  17. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  18. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  19. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  20. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  21. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  22. He is an ace ________________.
  23. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  24. The spa offers ________________ extensions.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. craft — boats
  3. ball — a dance
  4. lash — a whip stroke
  5. craft — a handicraft
  6. content — the amount
  7. mine — belonging to me
  8. race — humankind
  9. lash — to lash out
  10. kick — a thrill
  11. race — the arms race
  12. kick — in football
  13. pitcher — a jug
  14. pitcher — a jug
  15. mine — an explosive
  16. craft — a skill
  17. ball — a great time
  18. kick — with a leg
  19. content — videos and posts
  20. race — a contest
  21. mine — for digging
  22. pitcher — in baseball
  23. ball — a round shape
  24. lash — an eyelash

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