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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. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  4. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  5. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  8. I've got to change the light ________________.
  9. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  10. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  11. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  12. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  13. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  14. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  15. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  16. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  17. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  18. That was a fun ________________.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  21. The light ________________ burned out.
  22. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  23. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  24. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.

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

Answer key

  1. content — the amount
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. bat — the animal
  4. rule — a law
  5. pitch — a sports field
  6. cold — an illness
  7. bat — in an idiom
  8. bulb — for light
  9. content — happy
  10. pitch — completely
  11. bat — for baseball
  12. fall — to drop
  13. bulb — of a plant
  14. rule — to rule out
  15. content — videos and posts
  16. game — a kind of play
  17. game — wild animals
  18. game — a match
  19. cold — not warm
  20. fall — the season
  21. bulb — for light
  22. rule — government
  23. fall — to drop
  24. pitch — a sales talk

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