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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. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  2. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  3. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  4. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  5. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  6. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  7. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  8. He was locked up in a ________________.
  9. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  10. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  11. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  12. That was ________________ to happen.
  13. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  14. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  15. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  16. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  17. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  18. That was a fun ________________.
  19. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  20. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  21. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  22. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  23. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  24. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.

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

Answer key

  1. content — the amount
  2. fork — to eat with
  3. hide — to keep secret
  4. content — happy
  5. game — wild animals
  6. band — a ring
  7. band — a rubber band
  8. cell — in a prison
  9. cell — in biology
  10. hide — animal skin
  11. band — a music group
  12. bound — certain
  13. cell — a phone
  14. bound — obliged
  15. trunk — of a car
  16. hide — to keep secret
  17. bound — tied together
  18. game — a match
  19. fork — a garden tool
  20. content — videos and posts
  21. fork — in a road
  22. trunk — of a tree
  23. trunk — of an elephant
  24. game — a kind of play

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