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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. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  5. That was a fun ________________.
  6. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  7. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  8. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  9. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  10. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  13. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  14. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  15. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  16. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  17. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  18. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  19. Where did you ________________ them?
  20. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  21. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  22. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  23. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  24. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. content — the amount
  3. cold — not warm
  4. content — videos and posts
  5. game — a match
  6. vault — a safe
  7. mug — a cup
  8. wind — moving air
  9. vault — an arched ceiling
  10. game — wild animals
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. bat — in an idiom
  13. content — happy
  14. bat — the animal
  15. mug — a face
  16. bat — for baseball
  17. game — a kind of play
  18. chair — a leader
  19. mug — to rob
  20. vault — in gymnastics
  21. chair — a professorship
  22. wind — moving air
  23. chair — to sit on
  24. wind — to turn a key

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