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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. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  2. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  3. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  4. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. He was locked up in a ________________.
  7. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  8. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  9. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  10. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  11. The ________________ took off on time.
  12. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  15. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  16. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  17. False peace will not ________________.
  18. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  19. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  20. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  21. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  22. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — a phone
  2. present — there
  3. present — a gift
  4. bass — the fish
  5. cold — not warm
  6. cell — in a prison
  7. content — the amount
  8. present — the time now
  9. bass — low music
  10. bear — to put up with
  11. plane — an aircraft
  12. last — finally
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. plane — a tool
  15. content — happy
  16. bass — the instrument
  17. last — to go on
  18. bear — the animal
  19. bear — the animal
  20. last — final
  21. plane — in geometry
  22. content — videos and posts
  23. cold — an illness
  24. cell — in biology

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