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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. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  2. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  3. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  4. You don't need to ________________ round.
  5. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. Did you ________________ the meat?
  8. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  9. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  10. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  11. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  12. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  15. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  18. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  19. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  20. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  21. We're almost out of ________________.
  22. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  23. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  24. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.

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

Answer key

  1. content — videos and posts
  2. content — happy
  3. rule — a law
  4. pop — to visit
  5. patient — calm and waiting
  6. cold — an illness
  7. season — to add flavour
  8. leaves — to go away
  9. leaves — lets stay
  10. pop — music
  11. season — of the year
  12. season — in sport
  13. cold — not warm
  14. trunk — of a tree
  15. patient — a sick person
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. content — the amount
  18. leaves — of a tree
  19. trunk — of a car
  20. trunk — of an elephant
  21. pop — soda
  22. rule — government
  23. rule — to rule out
  24. patient — a sick person

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