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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. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  2. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  3. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  4. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  5. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  6. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  7. He was locked up in a ________________.
  8. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  9. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  10. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  11. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  12. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  13. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  14. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  15. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  16. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  17. When are we going to ________________?
  18. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  19. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  20. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  21. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  22. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  23. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  24. That was a fun ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — in biology
  2. content — happy
  3. band — a ring
  4. straw — a straw man
  5. wake — a trail
  6. band — a music group
  7. cell — in a prison
  8. wake — before a funeral
  9. band — a rubber band
  10. straw — to clutch at straws
  11. land — a country
  12. content — the amount
  13. straw — dry grass
  14. wake — to stop sleeping
  15. game — a kind of play
  16. game — wild animals
  17. land — to come down
  18. land — ground
  19. craft — boats
  20. craft — a skill
  21. cell — a phone
  22. content — videos and posts
  23. craft — a handicraft
  24. game — a match

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