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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. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  3. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  4. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  5. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  6. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  7. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  8. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  9. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  10. He was locked up in a ________________.
  11. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  12. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  13. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  14. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  15. Have you found your soul ________________?
  16. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  17. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  18. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  19. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  20. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  21. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  22. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  23. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  24. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. cell — a phone
  3. calf — a young animal
  4. face — to point toward
  5. mate — a friend
  6. content — the amount
  7. mate — to breed
  8. drill — a practice
  9. calf — a young animal
  10. cell — in a prison
  11. calf — of the leg
  12. mark — a trace
  13. content — videos and posts
  14. drill — army training
  15. mate — a partner
  16. mark — to pay attention
  17. drill — the tool
  18. cell — in biology
  19. row — a quarrel
  20. face — to confront
  21. row — to paddle
  22. mark — a grade
  23. face — part of the head
  24. row — a line

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