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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. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  2. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  3. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  4. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  5. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  6. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  7. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  8. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  9. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  10. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  11. The ________________ market has crashed.
  12. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  13. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  14. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  15. It's one o'clock ________________.
  16. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  17. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  18. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  19. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  20. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  21. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  22. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  23. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  24. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — a box
  2. squash — the vegetable
  3. sharp — with an edge
  4. squash — the sport
  5. shower — a meteor shower
  6. squash — to crush
  7. shower — rain
  8. row — a quarrel
  9. lie — an untruth
  10. shower — to wash
  11. stock — shares
  12. content — happy
  13. content — the amount
  14. row — to paddle
  15. sharp — exactly
  16. sharp — clever
  17. lie — to recline
  18. lie — an untruth
  19. chest — of your body
  20. content — videos and posts
  21. row — a line
  22. stock — a soup base
  23. chest — of your body
  24. stock — goods

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