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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. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  3. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  4. The ________________ took off on time.
  5. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  6. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  7. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  8. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  12. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  13. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  14. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  15. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  16. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  17. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  18. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  19. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  20. I'll be taking the ________________.
  21. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  22. Where did you ________________ them?
  23. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. drill — the tool
  3. mug — a face
  4. plane — an aircraft
  5. content — videos and posts
  6. mine — belonging to me
  7. mug — a cup
  8. mine — for digging
  9. cold — an illness
  10. cold — not warm
  11. tube — in a tire
  12. content — the amount
  13. plane — in geometry
  14. current — of water
  15. current — electric
  16. mine — an explosive
  17. drill — army training
  18. drill — a practice
  19. plane — a tool
  20. tube — the underground
  21. tube — a container
  22. mug — to rob
  23. current — happening now
  24. cold — the Cold War

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