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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 116 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. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  3. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  4. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  5. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  6. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  7. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  8. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  9. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  10. He was locked up in a ________________.
  11. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  12. Did you ________________ the meat?
  13. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  14. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  15. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  16. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  17. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  18. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  19. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  22. I can't ________________ this cold.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. Hold the papers together with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — a phone
  2. lean — to rest against
  3. content — videos and posts
  4. season — of the year
  5. squash — to crush
  6. fork — in a road
  7. lean — thin
  8. content — happy
  9. season — in sport
  10. cell — in a prison
  11. fork — to eat with
  12. season — to add flavour
  13. content — the amount
  14. stand — for spectators
  15. stand — on your feet
  16. fork — a garden tool
  17. squash — the vegetable
  18. squash — the sport
  19. lean — to bend
  20. clip — to cut
  21. cell — in biology
  22. stand — to bear
  23. clip — a video
  24. clip — for paper

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