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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. He was locked up in a ________________.
  2. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  3. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  4. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  5. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  6. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  7. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  8. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  9. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  10. My father caught me by the ________________.
  11. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  12. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  13. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  14. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  15. I'll be taking the ________________.
  16. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  17. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  18. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  19. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  20. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  21. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  22. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  23. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  24. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — in a prison
  2. spring — a coil
  3. cell — in biology
  4. spring — of water
  5. file — a tool
  6. file — a line of people
  7. tube — a container
  8. bat — for baseball
  9. tube — in a tire
  10. arm — part of the body
  11. bat — the animal
  12. chair — a leader
  13. arm — part of the body
  14. cell — a phone
  15. tube — the underground
  16. content — videos and posts
  17. spring — the season
  18. chair — to sit on
  19. content — the amount
  20. arm — a part of something
  21. chair — a professorship
  22. bat — in an idiom
  23. content — happy
  24. file — a document

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