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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. Did you ________________ the meat?
  2. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  3. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  4. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  5. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  6. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  7. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  8. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  9. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  10. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  11. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  12. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  13. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  14. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  15. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  16. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  17. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  18. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  19. I've got to change the light ________________.
  20. He was locked up in a ________________.
  21. The light ________________ burned out.
  22. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  23. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  24. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.

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

Answer key

  1. season — to add flavour
  2. cell — in biology
  3. rule — to rule out
  4. content — happy
  5. season — of the year
  6. rule — government
  7. bulb — of a plant
  8. row — a quarrel
  9. wind — moving air
  10. row — a line
  11. squash — the sport
  12. content — videos and posts
  13. row — to paddle
  14. wind — to turn a key
  15. rule — a law
  16. wind — moving air
  17. content — the amount
  18. squash — the vegetable
  19. bulb — for light
  20. cell — in a prison
  21. bulb — for light
  22. season — in sport
  23. cell — a phone
  24. squash — to crush

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