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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. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  2. There's no middle ________________.
  3. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  6. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  7. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  8. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  9. He was locked up in a ________________.
  10. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  11. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  12. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  13. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  14. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  15. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  18. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  21. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  22. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  23. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  24. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. leaves — lets stay
  2. ground — a position
  3. leaves — of a tree
  4. cold — not warm
  5. fine — high quality
  6. ground — crushed
  7. content — videos and posts
  8. fine — all right
  9. cell — in a prison
  10. leaves — to go away
  11. ground — the earth
  12. bank — for money
  13. fine — a penalty
  14. content — the amount
  15. cell — a phone
  16. cold — an illness
  17. bank — of a river
  18. content — happy
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. shower — rain
  21. cell — in biology
  22. shower — to wash
  23. bank — for money
  24. shower — a meteor shower

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