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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. He is an ace ________________.
  3. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  4. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  5. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  6. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  7. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  8. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  9. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  10. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  11. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  12. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  13. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  14. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  15. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  16. Have you met the new head ________________?
  17. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  18. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  19. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  20. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  21. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  22. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  23. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  24. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. pitcher — in baseball
  3. bowl — to roll
  4. bear — to put up with
  5. bark — a dog's sound
  6. mine — for digging
  7. pitcher — a jug
  8. tear — from crying
  9. coach — a trainer
  10. bowl — a dish
  11. bear — the animal
  12. tear — from crying
  13. tear — to rip
  14. mine — an explosive
  15. bark — to shout
  16. coach — a trainer
  17. content — the amount
  18. bark — of a tree
  19. pitcher — a jug
  20. bear — the animal
  21. bowl — a football final
  22. coach — pulled by horses
  23. content — videos and posts
  24. mine — belonging to me

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