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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. That must've been a ________________.
  2. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  3. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  4. He was locked up in a ________________.
  5. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  6. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  7. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  8. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  9. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  10. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  11. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  12. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  13. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  14. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  15. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  16. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  17. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  18. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  19. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  20. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  21. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  22. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  23. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  24. Check the label for the sugar ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rush — a thrill
  2. cell — in biology
  3. toast — a drink to someone
  4. cell — in a prison
  5. toast — bread
  6. rest — a break
  7. field — farmland
  8. snap — to click
  9. snap — to speak sharply
  10. rush — hurry
  11. field — for sport
  12. snap — to snap out of it
  13. rest — what's left
  14. toast — the most admired
  15. content — videos and posts
  16. rest — what's left
  17. content — happy
  18. cell — a phone
  19. rush — to hurry
  20. bass — the instrument
  21. field — a subject
  22. bass — low music
  23. bass — the fish
  24. content — the amount

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