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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 120 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. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  3. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  4. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  5. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  6. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  7. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  8. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  9. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  10. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  11. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  12. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  13. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  14. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  15. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  16. The tickets are free of ________________.
  17. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  18. Did you ________________ the meat?
  19. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  20. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  21. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  22. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  23. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  24. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. pit — a fruit stone
  3. content — videos and posts
  4. charge — electricity
  5. scale — size or range
  6. lie — to recline
  7. mine — for digging
  8. scale — for weighing
  9. pit — in a race
  10. lie — an untruth
  11. band — a ring
  12. season — in sport
  13. scale — in music
  14. band — a music group
  15. pit — a hole
  16. charge — a price
  17. charge — in control
  18. season — to add flavour
  19. band — a rubber band
  20. season — of the year
  21. mine — belonging to me
  22. content — the amount
  23. mine — an explosive
  24. lie — an untruth

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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