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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. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  2. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  3. What do you think of the new ________________?
  4. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  5. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  6. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  7. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  8. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  9. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  10. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  11. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  12. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  13. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  14. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  15. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  16. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  17. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  18. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  19. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  20. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  21. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  22. He was locked up in a ________________.
  23. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  24. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — a phone
  2. wake — before a funeral
  3. cabinet — ministers
  4. content — videos and posts
  5. spring — of water
  6. calf — a young animal
  7. wake — a trail
  8. calf — of the leg
  9. cell — in biology
  10. cabinet — a cupboard
  11. calf — a young animal
  12. content — happy
  13. degree — an amount
  14. cabinet — ministers
  15. degree — from a university
  16. spring — a coil
  17. straw — dry grass
  18. degree — temperature
  19. straw — a straw man
  20. wake — to stop sleeping
  21. spring — the season
  22. cell — in a prison
  23. content — the amount
  24. straw — to clutch at straws

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