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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. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  2. He works in a ________________ mill.
  3. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  4. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  5. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  6. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  7. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  8. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  9. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. The King held a masked ________________.
  12. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  13. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  14. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  15. She's very handy with a ________________.
  16. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  17. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  22. He was locked up in a ________________.
  23. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  24. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. content — the amount
  2. saw — the tool
  3. content — happy
  4. track — to keep track
  5. race — the arms race
  6. patient — calm and waiting
  7. race — a contest
  8. ball — a round shape
  9. ball — a great time
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. ball — a dance
  12. track — a path
  13. race — humankind
  14. saw — past of 'see'
  15. saw — the tool
  16. cell — a phone
  17. cell — in biology
  18. cold — not warm
  19. track — a song
  20. cold — an illness
  21. patient — a sick person
  22. cell — in a prison
  23. content — videos and posts
  24. patient — a sick person

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