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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 120 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. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  5. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  6. That must've been a ________________.
  7. That was ________________ to happen.
  8. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  9. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  10. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  11. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  12. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  13. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  14. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  15. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  16. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  17. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  18. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  19. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  20. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  21. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  22. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  23. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  24. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — in a prison
  2. cell — a phone
  3. degree — an amount
  4. hide — to keep secret
  5. degree — from a university
  6. rush — a thrill
  7. bound — certain
  8. content — the amount
  9. content — happy
  10. hide — animal skin
  11. rush — to hurry
  12. bound — tied together
  13. scale — in music
  14. mine — an explosive
  15. rush — hurry
  16. hide — to keep secret
  17. scale — for weighing
  18. mine — for digging
  19. cell — in biology
  20. bound — obliged
  21. content — videos and posts
  22. degree — temperature
  23. scale — size or range
  24. mine — belonging to me

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