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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. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. He was locked up in a ________________.
  3. When was this ________________ built?
  4. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  5. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  6. That was a fun ________________.
  7. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  8. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  9. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  10. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  11. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  12. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  13. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  14. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  15. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  16. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  17. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  18. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  19. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  20. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  21. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  22. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  23. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  24. False peace will not ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. cell — in a prison
  3. temple — a place of worship
  4. cell — a phone
  5. content — the amount
  6. game — a match
  7. temple — side of the head
  8. hide — to keep secret
  9. drill — the tool
  10. last — finally
  11. last — final
  12. drill — a practice
  13. hide — animal skin
  14. temple — a place of worship
  15. racket — for tennis
  16. racket — a loud noise
  17. game — a kind of play
  18. hide — to keep secret
  19. game — wild animals
  20. drill — army training
  21. cell — in biology
  22. content — videos and posts
  23. racket — for tennis
  24. last — to go on

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