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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 assure you, everything's ________________.
  2. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  3. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  4. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  5. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  6. When are we going to ________________?
  7. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  8. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  9. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  10. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  11. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  12. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  13. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  14. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  15. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  16. He was locked up in a ________________.
  17. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  18. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  19. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  20. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  21. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  22. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  23. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  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. fine — all right
  2. hide — animal skin
  3. content — videos and posts
  4. cell — a phone
  5. fine — high quality
  6. land — to come down
  7. cell — in biology
  8. degree — temperature
  9. hide — to keep secret
  10. current — happening now
  11. current — electric
  12. shower — rain
  13. content — the amount
  14. land — ground
  15. shower — to wash
  16. cell — in a prison
  17. fine — a penalty
  18. degree — an amount
  19. hide — to keep secret
  20. current — of water
  21. land — a country
  22. degree — from a university
  23. shower — a meteor shower
  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