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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. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  2. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  3. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  4. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  5. She's very handy with a ________________.
  6. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  7. Did you ________________ the meat?
  8. Have you settled on a ________________?
  9. He works in a ________________ mill.
  10. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  11. He was locked up in a ________________.
  12. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  13. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  14. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  15. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  16. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  17. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  18. Have you met the new head ________________?
  19. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  20. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  21. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  22. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  23. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  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. stick — a piece of wood
  2. content — happy
  3. coach — pulled by horses
  4. content — the amount
  5. saw — the tool
  6. date — on the calendar
  7. season — to add flavour
  8. date — on the calendar
  9. saw — the tool
  10. stick — a piece of wood
  11. cell — in a prison
  12. bat — in an idiom
  13. season — of the year
  14. bat — for baseball
  15. bat — the animal
  16. stick — to attach or keep to
  17. coach — a trainer
  18. coach — a trainer
  19. date — the fruit
  20. season — in sport
  21. cell — a phone
  22. content — videos and posts
  23. saw — past of 'see'
  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