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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 124 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. I'll be taking the ________________.
  3. David sat on the ________________.
  4. When are we going to ________________?
  5. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  6. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  7. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  8. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  9. It's one o'clock ________________.
  10. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  11. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  12. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  13. The ________________ market has crashed.
  14. He was locked up in a ________________.
  15. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  16. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  17. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  18. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  19. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  20. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  21. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  22. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  23. Did you ________________ the button?
  24. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. content — the amount
  2. tube — the underground
  3. swing — to play on
  4. land — to come down
  5. tube — a container
  6. tube — in a tire
  7. sharp — clever
  8. stock — a soup base
  9. sharp — exactly
  10. content — videos and posts
  11. cell — a phone
  12. stock — goods
  13. stock — shares
  14. cell — in a prison
  15. cell — in biology
  16. swing — in golf
  17. land — ground
  18. swing — music
  19. land — a country
  20. press — newspapers
  21. sharp — with an edge
  22. press — a publisher
  23. press — to push
  24. content — happy

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