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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 120 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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Word bank
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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: cell · content · last · shower · bowl · press

  1. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  2. He was locked up in a ________________.
  3. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  4. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  5. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  6. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  7. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  8. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  9. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  10. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  11. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  12. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  13. False peace will not ________________.
  14. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  15. Did you ________________ the button?
  16. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  17. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  18. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a dish
  2. cell — in a prison
  3. content — videos and posts
  4. content — the amount
  5. shower — a meteor shower
  6. last — final
  7. shower — rain
  8. bowl — a football final
  9. last — finally
  10. cell — in biology
  11. press — newspapers
  12. press — a publisher
  13. last — to go on
  14. shower — to wash
  15. press — to push
  16. cell — a phone
  17. bowl — to roll
  18. content — happy

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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