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

Word bank: stick · content · nail · squash · bowl · craft · cold · face

  1. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  3. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  4. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  7. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  8. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  9. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  10. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  11. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  12. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  13. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  14. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  15. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  16. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  17. The ________________ went through the wall.
  18. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  19. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  23. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  24. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. bowl — a football final
  3. craft — a handicraft
  4. bowl — to roll
  5. cold — not warm
  6. content — the amount
  7. nail — for a hammer
  8. squash — to crush
  9. face — part of the head
  10. craft — a skill
  11. face — to confront
  12. face — to point toward
  13. craft — boats
  14. nail — on a finger
  15. stick — a piece of wood
  16. stick — a piece of wood
  17. nail — for a hammer
  18. bowl — a dish
  19. squash — the vegetable
  20. cold — an illness
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. squash — the sport
  23. content — videos and posts
  24. stick — to attach or keep to

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