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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.

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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. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  2. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  3. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  4. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  5. Have you found your soul ________________?
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  9. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  10. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  11. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  12. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  15. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  16. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  17. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  18. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  19. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  20. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  21. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  22. I'll be taking the ________________.
  23. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  24. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.

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

Answer key

  1. can — to be able to
  2. content — the amount
  3. lie — to recline
  4. can — a tin
  5. mate — a partner
  6. cold — not warm
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. content — happy
  9. chair — a professorship
  10. tube — a container
  11. can — a tin
  12. mate — to breed
  13. cold — an illness
  14. shower — to wash
  15. content — videos and posts
  16. shower — a meteor shower
  17. tube — in a tire
  18. mate — a friend
  19. shower — rain
  20. lie — an untruth
  21. chair — to sit on
  22. tube — the underground
  23. lie — an untruth
  24. chair — a leader

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