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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. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  3. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  4. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  5. My father caught me by the ________________.
  6. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  7. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  8. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  9. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  10. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  11. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  12. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  13. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  14. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  15. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  16. That must've been a ________________.
  17. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  18. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  19. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  20. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  21. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  22. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  23. That was a fun ________________.
  24. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. rush — hurry
  3. bark — of a tree
  4. can — a tin
  5. arm — part of the body
  6. drill — a practice
  7. rush — to hurry
  8. stick — to attach or keep to
  9. game — wild animals
  10. drill — the tool
  11. bark — a dog's sound
  12. can — to be able to
  13. drill — army training
  14. can — a tin
  15. arm — part of the body
  16. rush — a thrill
  17. bark — to shout
  18. content — the amount
  19. content — videos and posts
  20. game — a kind of play
  21. arm — a part of something
  22. stick — a piece of wood
  23. game — a match
  24. stick — a piece of wood

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