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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. How do you ________________ your surname?
  2. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  3. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  4. Did you ________________ the meat?
  5. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  6. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  7. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  8. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  9. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  10. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  11. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  12. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  13. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  14. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  15. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  16. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  17. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  18. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  19. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  20. Where did you ________________ them?
  21. He was locked up in a ________________.
  22. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  23. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  24. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — letters
  2. bat — the animal
  3. content — videos and posts
  4. season — to add flavour
  5. cell — a phone
  6. hand — in cards
  7. season — of the year
  8. bass — the fish
  9. bat — in an idiom
  10. spell — a short time
  11. mug — a face
  12. spell — magic
  13. hand — part of the body
  14. bass — low music
  15. content — happy
  16. mug — a cup
  17. hand — help
  18. content — the amount
  19. bass — the instrument
  20. mug — to rob
  21. cell — in a prison
  22. cell — in biology
  23. bat — for baseball
  24. season — 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