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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 120 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.

Words on the sheet
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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: wind · content · row · drill · face · pitcher · last · squash

  1. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  3. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  4. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  5. False peace will not ________________.
  6. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  7. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  8. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  9. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  10. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  11. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  12. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  13. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  14. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  15. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  16. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  17. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  18. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  19. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  20. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  21. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  22. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  23. He is an ace ________________.
  24. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. squash — the vegetable
  3. squash — to crush
  4. face — to point toward
  5. last — to go on
  6. content — the amount
  7. row — to paddle
  8. drill — the tool
  9. row — a line
  10. wind — moving air
  11. pitcher — a jug
  12. last — finally
  13. wind — moving air
  14. last — final
  15. squash — the sport
  16. wind — to turn a key
  17. drill — a practice
  18. face — part of the head
  19. face — to confront
  20. pitcher — a jug
  21. row — a quarrel
  22. content — videos and posts
  23. pitcher — in baseball
  24. drill — army training

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