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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. He was locked up in a ________________.
  2. How do you ________________ your surname?
  3. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  4. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  5. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  6. False peace will not ________________.
  7. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  8. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  9. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  10. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  11. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  12. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  13. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  14. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  15. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  16. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  17. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  18. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  19. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  20. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  21. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  22. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  23. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  24. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — in a prison
  2. spell — letters
  3. prune — to trim
  4. mine — for digging
  5. vault — an arched ceiling
  6. last — to go on
  7. prune — to trim
  8. last — finally
  9. vault — in gymnastics
  10. content — videos and posts
  11. spell — magic
  12. mine — belonging to me
  13. content — the amount
  14. track — a path
  15. cell — in biology
  16. vault — a safe
  17. cell — a phone
  18. track — to keep track
  19. last — final
  20. prune — the fruit
  21. mine — an explosive
  22. spell — a short time
  23. track — a song
  24. content — happy

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