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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. He works in a ________________ mill.
  2. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  3. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  4. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  5. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  6. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  7. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  8. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  9. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  10. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  11. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  12. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  13. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  14. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  15. He was locked up in a ________________.
  16. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  17. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  18. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  19. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  20. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  21. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  22. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  23. She's very handy with a ________________.
  24. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. saw — the tool
  2. shower — to wash
  3. present — there
  4. march — the month
  5. content — happy
  6. present — the time now
  7. spring — of water
  8. present — a gift
  9. march — the month
  10. shower — a meteor shower
  11. cell — a phone
  12. shower — rain
  13. dip — a sauce
  14. cell — in biology
  15. cell — in a prison
  16. spring — the season
  17. content — the amount
  18. spring — a coil
  19. dip — to dunk
  20. march — music
  21. saw — past of 'see'
  22. dip — to sink
  23. saw — the tool
  24. content — videos and posts

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