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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. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  3. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  4. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  5. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  6. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  7. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  8. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  9. That must've been a ________________.
  10. Have you met the new head ________________?
  11. My mare is ________________ in color.
  12. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  13. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  14. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  15. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  16. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  17. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  18. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  19. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  20. How do you ________________ your surname?
  21. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  22. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  23. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  24. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. trunk — of a car
  3. kid — to tease
  4. face — to point toward
  5. bay — a part of the sea
  6. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  7. spell — a short time
  8. spell — magic
  9. rush — a thrill
  10. coach — a trainer
  11. bay — a horse colour
  12. coach — pulled by horses
  13. bay — to keep at bay
  14. face — to confront
  15. content — the amount
  16. trunk — of an elephant
  17. rush — to hurry
  18. rush — hurry
  19. face — part of the head
  20. spell — letters
  21. trunk — of a tree
  22. kid — child
  23. content — videos and posts
  24. coach — a trainer

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