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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. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  2. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  3. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  4. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  5. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  6. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  7. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  8. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  9. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  10. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  11. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  16. He was locked up in a ________________.
  17. It's one o'clock ________________.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  20. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  21. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  22. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  23. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  24. The ball hit the back of the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — in biology
  2. content — happy
  3. sharp — clever
  4. file — a document
  5. net — for catching
  6. content — videos and posts
  7. file — a line of people
  8. net — after costs
  9. wind — moving air
  10. staff — a stick
  11. wind — moving air
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. staff — employees
  14. cold — an illness
  15. cell — a phone
  16. cell — in a prison
  17. sharp — exactly
  18. cold — not warm
  19. wind — to turn a key
  20. content — the amount
  21. file — a tool
  22. sharp — with an edge
  23. staff — employees
  24. net — in sport

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