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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. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  2. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  3. He was locked up in a ________________.
  4. It's one o'clock ________________.
  5. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  6. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  7. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  8. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  9. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  10. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  11. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  12. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  13. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  14. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  15. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  16. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  17. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  18. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  19. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  20. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  21. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  22. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  23. Have you found your soul ________________?
  24. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — low music
  2. sharp — with an edge
  3. cell — in a prison
  4. sharp — exactly
  5. hand — in cards
  6. stem — to come from
  7. bass — the instrument
  8. stem — of a plant
  9. content — videos and posts
  10. stem — a stem cell
  11. leaves — of a tree
  12. leaves — lets stay
  13. mate — a friend
  14. hand — help
  15. mate — to breed
  16. leaves — to go away
  17. cell — in biology
  18. cell — a phone
  19. sharp — clever
  20. bass — the fish
  21. content — happy
  22. content — the amount
  23. mate — a partner
  24. hand — part of the body

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