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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. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  2. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  3. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  4. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  9. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  10. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  11. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  12. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  13. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  14. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  15. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  16. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  17. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  18. That must've been a ________________.
  19. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  20. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  21. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. He was locked up in a ________________.
  24. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.

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

Answer key

  1. mouse — the animal
  2. mouse — the animal
  3. rush — hurry
  4. cell — a phone
  5. cold — not warm
  6. content — videos and posts
  7. cold — an illness
  8. bowl — a dish
  9. content — happy
  10. bat — in an idiom
  11. bat — the animal
  12. content — the amount
  13. bass — the fish
  14. rush — to hurry
  15. mouse — for a computer
  16. bowl — a football final
  17. bat — for baseball
  18. rush — a thrill
  19. bass — low music
  20. bass — the instrument
  21. bowl — to roll
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. cell — in a prison
  24. cell — in biology

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