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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. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  2. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  3. How do you ________________ your surname?
  4. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  5. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  6. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  7. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  8. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  9. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  10. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  11. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  12. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  13. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  14. We're on a ________________ here.
  15. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  16. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  17. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  18. He was locked up in a ________________.
  19. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  20. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  21. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  22. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  23. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  24. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.

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

Answer key

  1. staff — employees
  2. roll — a cake
  3. spell — letters
  4. cell — a phone
  5. bore — gave birth
  6. cell — in biology
  7. content — happy
  8. content — videos and posts
  9. rule — government
  10. rule — a law
  11. spell — a short time
  12. rule — to rule out
  13. spring — of water
  14. roll — on a roll
  15. bore — to tire
  16. spring — a coil
  17. spring — the season
  18. cell — in a prison
  19. spell — magic
  20. staff — employees
  21. content — the amount
  22. staff — a stick
  23. bore — to drill
  24. roll — a list

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