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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. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  2. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  3. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  4. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  5. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  6. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  7. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  8. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. He was locked up in a ________________.
  11. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  12. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  13. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  14. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  15. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  18. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  19. He is an ace ________________.
  20. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  21. The King held a masked ________________.
  22. That was a fun ________________.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. The kitten curled into a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — a phone
  2. content — videos and posts
  3. root — the cause
  4. ball — a great time
  5. toast — the most admired
  6. content — happy
  7. pitcher — a jug
  8. root — of a plant
  9. cold — not warm
  10. cell — in a prison
  11. toast — a drink to someone
  12. toast — bread
  13. root — of a word
  14. game — a kind of play
  15. cell — in biology
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. game — wild animals
  18. pitcher — a jug
  19. pitcher — in baseball
  20. content — the amount
  21. ball — a dance
  22. game — a match
  23. cold — an illness
  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