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

Word bank: snap · chest · mate · cell · content · drill

  1. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  2. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  3. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  4. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  5. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  6. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  7. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  8. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  9. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  10. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  11. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  12. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  13. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  14. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  15. Have you found your soul ________________?
  16. He was locked up in a ________________.
  17. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  18. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. cell — in biology
  3. content — happy
  4. content — the amount
  5. snap — to speak sharply
  6. mate — to breed
  7. drill — army training
  8. mate — a friend
  9. chest — a box
  10. chest — of your body
  11. snap — to snap out of it
  12. snap — to click
  13. drill — the tool
  14. content — videos and posts
  15. mate — a partner
  16. cell — in a prison
  17. drill — a practice
  18. cell — a phone

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