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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 116 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. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  2. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  3. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  4. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  5. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  6. Don't do anything ________________.
  7. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  8. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  9. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  10. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  11. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  12. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  13. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  14. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  15. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  16. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  17. That was ________________ to happen.
  18. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  19. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  20. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  21. He was locked up in a ________________.
  22. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  23. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  24. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. hide — to keep secret
  2. squash — the sport
  3. pitch — completely
  4. pitch — a sports field
  5. pitch — a sales talk
  6. rash — hasty
  7. rash — a series
  8. content — happy
  9. cell — a phone
  10. bound — tied together
  11. content — the amount
  12. hide — to keep secret
  13. mine — an explosive
  14. hide — animal skin
  15. mine — for digging
  16. rash — on the skin
  17. bound — certain
  18. bound — obliged
  19. cell — in biology
  20. squash — to crush
  21. cell — in a prison
  22. squash — the vegetable
  23. mine — belonging to me
  24. content — videos and posts

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