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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. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  3. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  4. Don't do anything ________________.
  5. I'll be taking the ________________.
  6. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  9. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  10. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  11. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  12. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  13. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  14. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  15. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  16. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  17. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  18. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  19. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  20. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  21. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  22. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  23. He was locked up in a ________________.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. ruler — a monarch
  3. ruler — for measuring
  4. rash — hasty
  5. tube — the underground
  6. dip — to dunk
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. rash — a series
  9. rash — on the skin
  10. content — videos and posts
  11. cell — in biology
  12. ruler — for measuring
  13. dip — a sauce
  14. tube — in a tire
  15. field — a subject
  16. content — happy
  17. cell — a phone
  18. content — the amount
  19. tube — a container
  20. dip — to sink
  21. field — for sport
  22. field — farmland
  23. cell — in a prison
  24. cold — not warm

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