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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. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  2. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  3. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  4. That was ________________ to happen.
  5. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  6. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  7. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  8. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  9. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  10. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  11. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  12. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  13. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  14. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  15. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  16. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  17. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  18. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  19. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  20. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  21. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  22. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  23. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  24. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. content — the amount
  2. content — videos and posts
  3. straw — a straw man
  4. bound — certain
  5. hide — to keep secret
  6. squash — the sport
  7. hide — animal skin
  8. snap — to speak sharply
  9. hide — to keep secret
  10. bound — tied together
  11. field — for sport
  12. snap — to click
  13. squash — to crush
  14. content — happy
  15. wound — an injury
  16. squash — the vegetable
  17. field — a subject
  18. bound — obliged
  19. field — farmland
  20. straw — dry grass
  21. snap — to snap out of it
  22. wound — an injury
  23. wound — past of 'wind'
  24. straw — to clutch at straws

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