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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. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  2. Have you met the new head ________________?
  3. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  4. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  5. That must've been a ________________.
  6. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  7. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  8. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  9. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  10. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  11. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  12. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  13. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  14. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  15. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  16. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  17. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  18. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  19. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  20. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  21. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  22. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  23. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  24. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.

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

Answer key

  1. content — the amount
  2. coach — a trainer
  3. staff — a stick
  4. file — a line of people
  5. rush — a thrill
  6. lash — to lash out
  7. row — a line
  8. content — videos and posts
  9. coach — pulled by horses
  10. file — a tool
  11. staff — employees
  12. lash — a whip stroke
  13. coach — a trainer
  14. drill — the tool
  15. file — a document
  16. rush — hurry
  17. lash — an eyelash
  18. drill — a practice
  19. rush — to hurry
  20. staff — employees
  21. content — happy
  22. row — a quarrel
  23. drill — army training
  24. row — to paddle

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