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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. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  2. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  3. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  4. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  5. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  6. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  7. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  8. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  9. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  10. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  11. Have you found your soul ________________?
  12. It's one o'clock ________________.
  13. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  14. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  15. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  16. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  17. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  18. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  19. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  20. This piece is in a major ________________.
  21. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  22. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  23. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  24. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a dish
  2. snap — to speak sharply
  3. wake — a trail
  4. snap — to click
  5. bowl — a football final
  6. key — the most important part
  7. sharp — clever
  8. bowl — to roll
  9. sharp — with an edge
  10. wake — to stop sleeping
  11. mate — a partner
  12. sharp — exactly
  13. content — videos and posts
  14. rule — a law
  15. mate — to breed
  16. content — happy
  17. rule — government
  18. content — the amount
  19. wake — before a funeral
  20. key — in music
  21. key — for a lock
  22. mate — a friend
  23. snap — to snap out of it
  24. rule — to rule out

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