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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. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  3. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  4. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  5. He was locked up in a ________________.
  6. You don't need to ________________ round.
  7. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  8. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  9. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  10. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  11. I've got to change the light ________________.
  12. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  13. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  14. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  15. We're almost out of ________________.
  16. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  17. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  18. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  19. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  20. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  21. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  22. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  23. The light ________________ burned out.
  24. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — a phone
  2. shower — rain
  3. bat — the animal
  4. bulb — of a plant
  5. cell — in a prison
  6. pop — to visit
  7. capital — a big letter
  8. cell — in biology
  9. content — the amount
  10. capital — a city
  11. bulb — for light
  12. shower — a meteor shower
  13. bat — in an idiom
  14. fall — to drop
  15. pop — soda
  16. fall — the season
  17. content — videos and posts
  18. pop — music
  19. bat — for baseball
  20. fall — to drop
  21. content — happy
  22. shower — to wash
  23. bulb — for light
  24. capital — money

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