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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. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  3. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  4. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  5. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  6. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  7. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  8. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  9. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  10. You don't need to ________________ round.
  11. The King held a masked ________________.
  12. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  13. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  14. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  15. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  16. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  17. We're almost out of ________________.
  18. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  19. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  20. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  21. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  22. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  23. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  24. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. ball — a round shape
  3. lean — to bend
  4. lean — thin
  5. shower — a meteor shower
  6. pop — music
  7. band — a rubber band
  8. shower — to wash
  9. snap — to snap out of it
  10. pop — to visit
  11. ball — a dance
  12. lean — to rest against
  13. snap — to speak sharply
  14. shower — rain
  15. content — the amount
  16. present — the time now
  17. pop — soda
  18. present — there
  19. band — a ring
  20. band — a music group
  21. ball — a great time
  22. present — a gift
  23. content — videos and posts
  24. snap — to click

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