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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. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  3. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  4. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  5. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  8. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  9. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  10. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  11. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  12. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  13. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  14. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  15. That was ________________ to happen.
  16. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  17. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  18. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  21. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  22. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  23. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. bound — obliged
  3. rock — a stone
  4. content — videos and posts
  5. net — for catching
  6. cold — not warm
  7. net — in sport
  8. bound — tied together
  9. rock — music
  10. mark — a trace
  11. mark — to pay attention
  12. rock — to move gently
  13. present — there
  14. wave — with your hand
  15. bound — certain
  16. net — after costs
  17. wave — of the sea
  18. mark — a grade
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. content — the amount
  21. present — the time now
  22. present — a gift
  23. wave — a sudden rise
  24. cold — an illness

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