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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. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  3. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  4. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  5. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  6. The tickets are free of ________________.
  7. False peace will not ________________.
  8. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  9. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  10. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  11. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  12. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  15. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  16. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  19. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  20. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  21. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. The King held a masked ________________.
  24. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. rest — what's left
  3. mouse — the animal
  4. bat — for baseball
  5. last — final
  6. charge — a price
  7. last — to go on
  8. bat — in an idiom
  9. content — videos and posts
  10. charge — in control
  11. mouse — for a computer
  12. last — finally
  13. cold — not warm
  14. content — the amount
  15. rest — what's left
  16. charge — electricity
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. ball — a great time
  19. bat — the animal
  20. rest — a break
  21. ball — a round shape
  22. cold — an illness
  23. ball — a dance
  24. mouse — the animal

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