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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. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  2. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  3. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  4. That was a fun ________________.
  5. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  6. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  7. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  8. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  9. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  10. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  11. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  12. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  13. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  14. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  17. The tickets are free of ________________.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  20. He was locked up in a ________________.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  23. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  24. We have nothing to ________________ here.

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

Answer key

  1. net — in sport
  2. cell — in biology
  3. content — videos and posts
  4. game — a match
  5. spring — a coil
  6. content — the amount
  7. cell — a phone
  8. net — after costs
  9. hide — to keep secret
  10. spring — of water
  11. charge — in control
  12. net — for catching
  13. game — wild animals
  14. charge — electricity
  15. cold — an illness
  16. content — happy
  17. charge — a price
  18. cold — not warm
  19. spring — the season
  20. cell — in a prison
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. hide — animal skin
  23. game — a kind of play
  24. hide — to keep secret

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