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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.

Words on the sheet
468
Word bank
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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. That was a fun ________________.
  2. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  3. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  4. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  7. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  8. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  9. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  10. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  11. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  12. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  13. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  14. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  15. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  16. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  19. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  20. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  21. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  22. My mare is ________________ in color.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a match
  2. chair — to sit on
  3. content — happy
  4. game — wild animals
  5. cold — not warm
  6. trunk — of a car
  7. wave — of the sea
  8. trunk — of an elephant
  9. trunk — of a tree
  10. content — the amount
  11. bay — to keep at bay
  12. file — a line of people
  13. file — a tool
  14. bay — a part of the sea
  15. wave — a sudden rise
  16. game — a kind of play
  17. cold — an illness
  18. file — a document
  19. chair — a professorship
  20. chair — a leader
  21. wave — with your hand
  22. bay — a horse colour
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. content — videos and posts

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