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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. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  2. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  3. You don't need to ________________ round.
  4. She's very handy with a ________________.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  7. We're almost out of ________________.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  10. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  11. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  12. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. My father caught me by the ________________.
  15. It's one o'clock ________________.
  16. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  17. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  18. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  19. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  20. He works in a ________________ mill.
  21. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  22. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  23. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  24. Boris sat near the fire ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. arm — a part of something
  2. content — happy
  3. pop — to visit
  4. saw — the tool
  5. cold — not warm
  6. calf — a young animal
  7. pop — soda
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. arm — part of the body
  10. saw — past of 'see'
  11. pit — a fruit stone
  12. calf — of the leg
  13. cold — an illness
  14. arm — part of the body
  15. sharp — exactly
  16. sharp — with an edge
  17. content — the amount
  18. pop — music
  19. content — videos and posts
  20. saw — the tool
  21. calf — a young animal
  22. sharp — clever
  23. pit — in a race
  24. pit — a hole

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