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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. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  3. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  4. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  5. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  6. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  9. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  10. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  13. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  14. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  15. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  16. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  17. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  18. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  19. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  20. What do you think of the new ________________?
  21. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  22. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  23. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  24. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. can — to be able to
  3. content — happy
  4. fine — all right
  5. can — a tin
  6. fine — a penalty
  7. cold — not warm
  8. content — the amount
  9. cabinet — a cupboard
  10. scale — for weighing
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. scale — in music
  13. prune — the fruit
  14. prune — to trim
  15. staff — employees
  16. can — a tin
  17. prune — to trim
  18. scale — size or range
  19. staff — a stick
  20. cabinet — ministers
  21. cabinet — ministers
  22. fine — high quality
  23. content — videos and posts
  24. staff — employees

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