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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. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  3. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  4. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  5. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  6. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  7. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  8. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  9. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  10. He was locked up in a ________________.
  11. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  12. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  13. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  14. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  15. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  16. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  17. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  18. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  19. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  20. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  21. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  22. The tickets are free of ________________.
  23. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  24. Did you ________________ the meat?

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. tear — to rip
  3. charge — electricity
  4. board — a flat piece
  5. bat — for baseball
  6. cell — in biology
  7. cell — a phone
  8. bat — the animal
  9. board — a committee
  10. cell — in a prison
  11. shower — rain
  12. content — videos and posts
  13. season — in sport
  14. season — of the year
  15. content — the amount
  16. bat — in an idiom
  17. tear — from crying
  18. tear — from crying
  19. board — to get on
  20. shower — a meteor shower
  21. shower — to wash
  22. charge — a price
  23. charge — in control
  24. season — to add flavour

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