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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 was locked up in a ________________.
  2. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  3. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  4. She's very handy with a ________________.
  5. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  6. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  7. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  8. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  9. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  10. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  11. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  12. He works in a ________________ mill.
  13. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  14. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  15. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  16. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  17. There's no middle ________________.
  18. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  19. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  20. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  21. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  22. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  23. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  24. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — in a prison
  2. content — videos and posts
  3. bat — in an idiom
  4. saw — the tool
  5. content — happy
  6. dip — a sauce
  7. dip — to dunk
  8. ground — the earth
  9. mine — for digging
  10. ground — crushed
  11. cell — a phone
  12. saw — the tool
  13. cell — in biology
  14. saw — past of 'see'
  15. content — the amount
  16. wind — moving air
  17. ground — a position
  18. wind — to turn a key
  19. bat — for baseball
  20. mine — an explosive
  21. bat — the animal
  22. mine — belonging to me
  23. wind — moving air
  24. dip — to sink

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