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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 116 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. My mare is ________________ in color.
  2. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  3. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  4. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  5. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  6. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  7. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  8. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  9. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  10. The ________________ market has crashed.
  11. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  12. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  13. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  14. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  15. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  16. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  17. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  18. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  19. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  20. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  21. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  22. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  23. He was locked up in a ________________.
  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. bay — a horse colour
  2. content — happy
  3. drill — the tool
  4. drill — army training
  5. bay — a part of the sea
  6. straw — dry grass
  7. stock — a soup base
  8. content — videos and posts
  9. fork — a garden tool
  10. stock — shares
  11. cell — a phone
  12. fork — to eat with
  13. cue — a signal
  14. stock — goods
  15. cue — a hint
  16. cue — for pool
  17. bay — to keep at bay
  18. cell — in biology
  19. straw — a straw man
  20. fork — in a road
  21. drill — a practice
  22. straw — to clutch at straws
  23. cell — in a prison
  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