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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 120 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. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  2. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  3. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  4. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  5. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  6. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  7. He was locked up in a ________________.
  8. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  9. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  10. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  11. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  12. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  13. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  14. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  15. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  16. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  17. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  18. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  19. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  20. That was a fun ________________.
  21. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  22. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  23. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  24. Boris sat near the fire ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — to drop
  2. cell — a phone
  3. row — a line
  4. game — wild animals
  5. cue — for pool
  6. row — to paddle
  7. cell — in a prison
  8. mouse — for a computer
  9. fall — to drop
  10. content — happy
  11. game — a kind of play
  12. cue — a signal
  13. cue — a hint
  14. fall — the season
  15. content — videos and posts
  16. mouse — the animal
  17. row — a quarrel
  18. mouse — the animal
  19. content — the amount
  20. game — a match
  21. cell — in biology
  22. pit — in a race
  23. pit — a fruit stone
  24. pit — a hole

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