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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. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  2. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  3. He was locked up in a ________________.
  4. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  5. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  6. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  7. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  8. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  9. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  10. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  11. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  12. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  13. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  14. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  15. Did you ________________ the button?
  16. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  17. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  18. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  19. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  20. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  21. That must've been a ________________.
  22. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  23. I'll be taking the ________________.
  24. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fork — to eat with
  2. content — happy
  3. cell — in a prison
  4. hand — in cards
  5. hand — part of the body
  6. cell — a phone
  7. march — music
  8. rush — to hurry
  9. press — a publisher
  10. fork — in a road
  11. cell — in biology
  12. rush — hurry
  13. tube — in a tire
  14. tube — a container
  15. press — to push
  16. press — newspapers
  17. march — the month
  18. content — the amount
  19. fork — a garden tool
  20. content — videos and posts
  21. rush — a thrill
  22. hand — help
  23. tube — the underground
  24. march — the month

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