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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. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  2. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  3. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  4. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  5. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  6. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  7. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  8. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  9. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  10. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  11. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  12. She's very handy with a ________________.
  13. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  14. Have you found your soul ________________?
  15. He was locked up in a ________________.
  16. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  17. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  18. He works in a ________________ mill.
  19. David sat on the ________________.
  20. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  21. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  22. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  23. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  24. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!

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

Answer key

  1. mate — to breed
  2. cell — in biology
  3. jam — in traffic
  4. content — happy
  5. mate — a friend
  6. content — the amount
  7. fan — to cool the air
  8. swing — in golf
  9. swing — music
  10. jam — to spread on bread
  11. straw — to clutch at straws
  12. saw — the tool
  13. straw — dry grass
  14. mate — a partner
  15. cell — in a prison
  16. straw — a straw man
  17. fan — a supporter
  18. saw — the tool
  19. swing — to play on
  20. fan — a supporter
  21. saw — past of 'see'
  22. jam — a tight spot
  23. content — videos and posts
  24. cell — a phone

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