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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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Word bank
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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. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  3. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  4. My mare is ________________ in color.
  5. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  6. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  7. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  8. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  9. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  10. David sat on the ________________.
  11. When was this ________________ built?
  12. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  13. It's one o'clock ________________.
  14. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  15. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  16. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  17. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  18. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  19. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  20. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  21. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  22. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  23. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  24. This knife is not ________________ enough.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. content — videos and posts
  3. kid — to tease
  4. bay — a horse colour
  5. content — the amount
  6. bay — to keep at bay
  7. swing — in golf
  8. row — to paddle
  9. sharp — clever
  10. swing — to play on
  11. temple — a place of worship
  12. kid — child
  13. sharp — exactly
  14. row — a quarrel
  15. temple — side of the head
  16. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  17. row — a line
  18. pit — a fruit stone
  19. bay — a part of the sea
  20. temple — a place of worship
  21. pit — in a race
  22. pit — a hole
  23. swing — music
  24. sharp — with an edge

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