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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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468
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. He works in a ________________ mill.
  3. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  4. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  5. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  6. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  7. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  8. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  9. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  10. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  11. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  12. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  13. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  14. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  15. She's very handy with a ________________.
  16. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  17. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  18. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  19. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  20. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  21. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  22. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  23. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  24. Check the label for the sugar ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. saw — the tool
  3. bass — low music
  4. lash — an eyelash
  5. lash — to lash out
  6. deal — to handle
  7. content — videos and posts
  8. chest — of your body
  9. bass — the fish
  10. fork — to eat with
  11. lash — a whip stroke
  12. straw — a straw man
  13. deal — an agreement
  14. bass — the instrument
  15. saw — the tool
  16. deal — a big deal
  17. chest — of your body
  18. chest — a box
  19. fork — a garden tool
  20. straw — dry grass
  21. saw — past of 'see'
  22. straw — to clutch at straws
  23. fork — in a road
  24. content — the amount

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