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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. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  3. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  4. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  5. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  6. He was locked up in a ________________.
  7. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  8. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  9. When was this ________________ built?
  10. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  11. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  12. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  13. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  14. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  15. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  16. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  17. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  18. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  19. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  20. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  21. When are we going to ________________?
  22. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  23. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  24. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. land — ground
  3. straw — to clutch at straws
  4. temple — a place of worship
  5. current — of water
  6. cell — in a prison
  7. straw — dry grass
  8. toast — the most admired
  9. temple — a place of worship
  10. present — a gift
  11. land — a country
  12. current — electric
  13. content — videos and posts
  14. toast — a drink to someone
  15. cell — in biology
  16. content — the amount
  17. cell — a phone
  18. current — happening now
  19. toast — bread
  20. straw — a straw man
  21. land — to come down
  22. present — there
  23. temple — side of the head
  24. present — the time now

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