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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. That was a fun ________________.
  3. He was locked up in a ________________.
  4. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  5. David sat on the ________________.
  6. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  7. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  8. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  9. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  10. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  11. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  12. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  13. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  14. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  15. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  16. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  17. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  18. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  19. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  20. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  21. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  22. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  23. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  24. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. game — a match
  3. cell — in a prison
  4. content — videos and posts
  5. swing — to play on
  6. swing — music
  7. wind — to turn a key
  8. bear — the animal
  9. game — wild animals
  10. perch — for a bird
  11. bore — to drill
  12. wind — moving air
  13. cell — a phone
  14. wind — moving air
  15. cell — in biology
  16. perch — for a bird
  17. bore — gave birth
  18. perch — the fish
  19. content — the amount
  20. swing — in golf
  21. bear — the animal
  22. bore — to tire
  23. bear — to put up with
  24. game — a kind of play

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