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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. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  3. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  4. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  5. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  6. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  7. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  8. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  9. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  10. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  11. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  12. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  13. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  14. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  15. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  16. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  17. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  18. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  19. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  20. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  21. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  22. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  23. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  24. False peace will not ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. content — the amount
  2. row — a quarrel
  3. row — a line
  4. row — to paddle
  5. ruler — for measuring
  6. bark — to shout
  7. snap — to click
  8. spring — of water
  9. patient — calm and waiting
  10. spring — a coil
  11. ruler — for measuring
  12. bark — a dog's sound
  13. snap — to snap out of it
  14. ruler — a monarch
  15. patient — a sick person
  16. bark — of a tree
  17. content — happy
  18. spring — the season
  19. content — videos and posts
  20. patient — a sick person
  21. last — final
  22. snap — to speak sharply
  23. last — finally
  24. last — to go on

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