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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 rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  2. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  3. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  4. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  5. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  6. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  7. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  8. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  9. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  10. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  11. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  12. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  13. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  14. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  15. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  16. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  17. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  18. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  19. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  20. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  21. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  22. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  23. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  24. He was locked up in a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. file — a tool
  2. cell — a phone
  3. content — happy
  4. hide — animal skin
  5. can — to be able to
  6. hide — to keep secret
  7. file — a line of people
  8. degree — from a university
  9. can — a tin
  10. content — videos and posts
  11. bat — for baseball
  12. cell — in biology
  13. can — a tin
  14. bat — the animal
  15. fan — to cool the air
  16. file — a document
  17. bat — in an idiom
  18. content — the amount
  19. degree — temperature
  20. fan — a supporter
  21. hide — to keep secret
  22. degree — an amount
  23. fan — a supporter
  24. cell — in a prison

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