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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. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  2. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  3. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. We're on a ________________ here.
  6. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  7. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  8. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  9. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  10. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  11. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  12. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  13. That was a fun ________________.
  14. We're almost out of ________________.
  15. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  16. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  17. You don't need to ________________ round.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  20. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  21. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  22. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. deal — to handle
  2. pop — music
  3. content — happy
  4. cold — not warm
  5. roll — on a roll
  6. content — videos and posts
  7. bore — to tire
  8. deal — an agreement
  9. content — the amount
  10. fan — to cool the air
  11. fan — a supporter
  12. game — a kind of play
  13. game — a match
  14. pop — soda
  15. deal — a big deal
  16. bore — gave birth
  17. pop — to visit
  18. cold — an illness
  19. bore — to drill
  20. game — wild animals
  21. fan — a supporter
  22. roll — a list
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. roll — a cake

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