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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. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  3. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  4. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  5. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  6. He is an ace ________________.
  7. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  8. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  9. Did you ________________ the meat?
  10. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  11. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  12. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  13. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  14. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  15. When are we going to ________________?
  16. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  17. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  18. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  19. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  20. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  21. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  22. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  23. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  24. He had ________________ pain while walking.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — in a prison
  2. content — the amount
  3. season — in sport
  4. content — happy
  5. season — of the year
  6. pitcher — in baseball
  7. content — videos and posts
  8. land — ground
  9. season — to add flavour
  10. cell — a phone
  11. calf — a young animal
  12. race — a contest
  13. pitcher — a jug
  14. rock — music
  15. land — to come down
  16. race — the arms race
  17. rock — to move gently
  18. race — humankind
  19. land — a country
  20. calf — a young animal
  21. cell — in biology
  22. rock — a stone
  23. pitcher — a jug
  24. calf — of the leg

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