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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. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  2. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  3. That was a fun ________________.
  4. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  5. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  6. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  7. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  8. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  9. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  10. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  11. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  12. The King held a masked ________________.
  13. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  14. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  15. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  16. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  17. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  18. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  19. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  20. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  21. My mare is ________________ in color.
  22. He was locked up in a ________________.
  23. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  24. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.

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

Answer key

  1. bay — to keep at bay
  2. spring — of water
  3. game — a match
  4. content — videos and posts
  5. game — wild animals
  6. ball — a great time
  7. file — a line of people
  8. ball — a round shape
  9. row — a quarrel
  10. content — happy
  11. game — a kind of play
  12. ball — a dance
  13. cell — a phone
  14. bay — a part of the sea
  15. content — the amount
  16. file — a document
  17. row — a line
  18. spring — a coil
  19. spring — the season
  20. file — a tool
  21. bay — a horse colour
  22. cell — in a prison
  23. cell — in biology
  24. row — to paddle

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