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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 from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: present · mouse · swing · content · bat · cell

  1. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  2. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  3. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  4. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  5. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  6. He was locked up in a ________________.
  7. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  8. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  9. David sat on the ________________.
  10. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  11. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  12. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  13. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  14. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  15. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  16. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  17. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  18. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.

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

Answer key

  1. content — the amount
  2. content — videos and posts
  3. bat — in an idiom
  4. present — there
  5. bat — the animal
  6. cell — in a prison
  7. mouse — for a computer
  8. mouse — the animal
  9. swing — to play on
  10. cell — a phone
  11. content — happy
  12. mouse — the animal
  13. present — the time now
  14. bat — for baseball
  15. swing — in golf
  16. present — a gift
  17. cell — in biology
  18. swing — music

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