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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. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  2. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  3. He was locked up in a ________________.
  4. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  5. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  6. The King held a masked ________________.
  7. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  8. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  9. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  10. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  11. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  12. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  13. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  14. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  15. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  16. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  17. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  18. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  19. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  20. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  21. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  22. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  23. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  24. The kitten curled into a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. ball — a great time
  2. content — videos and posts
  3. cell — in a prison
  4. chest — of your body
  5. chair — a leader
  6. ball — a dance
  7. wake — a trail
  8. chest — of your body
  9. mark — a trace
  10. cell — in biology
  11. chair — a professorship
  12. wake — to stop sleeping
  13. mark — to pay attention
  14. cell — a phone
  15. mark — a grade
  16. content — the amount
  17. chest — a box
  18. content — happy
  19. wake — before a funeral
  20. shower — a meteor shower
  21. chair — to sit on
  22. shower — to wash
  23. shower — rain
  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