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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 116 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. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  3. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  4. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  5. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  6. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  7. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  8. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  9. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  10. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  16. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  17. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  18. ________________ you help me carry this box?

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. content — videos and posts
  3. hide — animal skin
  4. band — a music group
  5. band — a ring
  6. fan — to cool the air
  7. can — a tin
  8. hide — to keep secret
  9. fan — a supporter
  10. band — a rubber band
  11. cold — an illness
  12. hide — to keep secret
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. cold — not warm
  15. can — a tin
  16. fan — a supporter
  17. content — the amount
  18. can — to be able 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