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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 120 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. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  2. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  3. The ball is in your ________________.
  4. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  5. He was locked up in a ________________.
  6. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  7. I can't ________________ this cold.
  8. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  9. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  10. We're almost out of ________________.
  11. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  12. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  13. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  14. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  15. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  16. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  17. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  18. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  19. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  20. You don't need to ________________ round.
  21. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  22. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  23. This is the first time I've ever walked with 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. snap — to click
  2. pop — music
  3. court — for sport
  4. snap — to speak sharply
  5. cell — in a prison
  6. court — of law
  7. stand — to bear
  8. content — videos and posts
  9. stick — to attach or keep to
  10. pop — soda
  11. court — of a king
  12. content — the amount
  13. patient — a sick person
  14. stand — for spectators
  15. snap — to snap out of it
  16. cell — a phone
  17. stick — a piece of wood
  18. content — happy
  19. stand — on your feet
  20. pop — to visit
  21. patient — calm and waiting
  22. patient — a sick person
  23. stick — a piece of wood
  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