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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. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  4. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  5. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  6. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  7. I've got to change the light ________________.
  8. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  9. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  10. The light ________________ burned out.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  13. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  14. He is an ace ________________.
  15. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  16. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  17. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  20. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  21. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  22. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  23. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  24. The old man leaned on his ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. cold — an illness
  3. fork — in a road
  4. staff — employees
  5. content — videos and posts
  6. trunk — of a car
  7. bulb — for light
  8. pitcher — a jug
  9. fork — a garden tool
  10. bulb — for light
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. bulb — of a plant
  13. trunk — of an elephant
  14. pitcher — in baseball
  15. vault — in gymnastics
  16. content — the amount
  17. trunk — of a tree
  18. cold — not warm
  19. vault — an arched ceiling
  20. fork — to eat with
  21. pitcher — a jug
  22. staff — employees
  23. vault — a safe
  24. staff — a stick

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