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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. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. Have you found your soul ________________?
  3. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  4. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  5. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  6. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  7. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  8. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  9. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  10. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  11. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  12. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  13. When are we going to ________________?
  14. The ________________ took off on time.
  15. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  16. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  17. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  18. The tickets are free of ________________.
  19. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  20. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  23. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. mate — a partner
  3. mate — to breed
  4. scale — size or range
  5. land — a country
  6. mate — a friend
  7. bat — for baseball
  8. content — happy
  9. content — videos and posts
  10. content — the amount
  11. plane — in geometry
  12. charge — electricity
  13. land — to come down
  14. plane — an aircraft
  15. scale — for weighing
  16. plane — a tool
  17. charge — in control
  18. charge — a price
  19. bat — the animal
  20. land — ground
  21. cold — not warm
  22. bat — in an idiom
  23. scale — in music
  24. cold — the Cold War

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