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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. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  3. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  4. False peace will not ________________.
  5. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  6. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  7. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  8. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  9. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  10. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  11. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  12. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  13. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  14. The King held a masked ________________.
  15. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  16. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  17. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  18. This piece is in a major ________________.
  19. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  20. Have you found your soul ________________?
  21. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  22. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  23. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  24. The kitten curled into a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. patient — calm and waiting
  3. key — the most important part
  4. last — to go on
  5. ball — a great time
  6. lean — thin
  7. squash — the vegetable
  8. last — finally
  9. content — videos and posts
  10. key — for a lock
  11. lean — to rest against
  12. lean — to bend
  13. mate — a friend
  14. ball — a dance
  15. mate — to breed
  16. squash — the sport
  17. squash — to crush
  18. key — in music
  19. patient — a sick person
  20. mate — a partner
  21. patient — a sick person
  22. last — final
  23. content — the amount
  24. ball — a round shape

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