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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. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  2. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  3. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  4. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  5. He was locked up in a ________________.
  6. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  7. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  8. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  9. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  10. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  11. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  12. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  13. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  14. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  15. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  16. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  17. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  18. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  19. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  20. That was ________________ to happen.
  21. Don't do anything ________________.
  22. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  23. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  24. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. content — videos and posts
  2. bowl — a dish
  3. content — the amount
  4. content — happy
  5. cell — in a prison
  6. rash — on the skin
  7. hand — part of the body
  8. hand — help
  9. cell — a phone
  10. bowl — a football final
  11. scale — size or range
  12. bound — obliged
  13. bound — tied together
  14. hand — in cards
  15. rash — a series
  16. jam — to spread on bread
  17. jam — a tight spot
  18. cell — in biology
  19. bowl — to roll
  20. bound — certain
  21. rash — hasty
  22. jam — in traffic
  23. scale — for weighing
  24. scale — in music

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