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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. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  2. The ball is in your ________________.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  5. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  6. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  9. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  10. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  11. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  12. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  13. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  14. He was locked up in a ________________.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  17. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  18. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  19. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  20. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  21. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  22. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  23. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  24. Did you ________________ the button?

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

Answer key

  1. cell — a phone
  2. court — for sport
  3. cold — an illness
  4. court — of law
  5. staff — employees
  6. court — of a king
  7. cold — not warm
  8. lie — an untruth
  9. shower — a meteor shower
  10. press — newspapers
  11. content — the amount
  12. lie — an untruth
  13. press — a publisher
  14. cell — in a prison
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. shower — rain
  17. shower — to wash
  18. staff — employees
  19. lie — to recline
  20. content — videos and posts
  21. staff — a stick
  22. content — happy
  23. cell — in biology
  24. press — to push

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