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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. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  7. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  8. The King held a masked ________________.
  9. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  10. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  11. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  12. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  13. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  14. Have you found your soul ________________?
  15. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  16. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  17. I'll be taking the ________________.
  18. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  19. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  20. I can't ________________ this cold.
  21. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  22. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  23. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  24. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. mate — to breed
  3. cold — not warm
  4. net — for catching
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. content — happy
  7. mate — a friend
  8. ball — a dance
  9. present — a gift
  10. tube — in a tire
  11. content — the amount
  12. ball — a round shape
  13. present — there
  14. mate — a partner
  15. stand — on your feet
  16. stand — for spectators
  17. tube — the underground
  18. net — in sport
  19. tube — a container
  20. stand — to bear
  21. net — after costs
  22. ball — a great time
  23. content — videos and posts
  24. present — the time now

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