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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. I can't ________________ this cold.
  2. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  3. He was locked up in a ________________.
  4. The King held a masked ________________.
  5. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  6. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  7. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  8. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  9. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  10. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  11. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  12. David sat on the ________________.
  13. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  14. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  15. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  16. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  17. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  18. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  19. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  20. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  21. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  22. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  23. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  24. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. stand — to bear
  2. cell — a phone
  3. cell — in a prison
  4. ball — a dance
  5. ball — a great time
  6. content — the amount
  7. content — videos and posts
  8. march — the month
  9. dip — a sauce
  10. row — a line
  11. cell — in biology
  12. swing — to play on
  13. stand — for spectators
  14. row — a quarrel
  15. march — music
  16. ball — a round shape
  17. content — happy
  18. dip — to dunk
  19. swing — music
  20. dip — to sink
  21. swing — in golf
  22. stand — on your feet
  23. row — to paddle
  24. march — the month

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