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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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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: game · cell · content · ball · spring · march · cap · fine

  1. The King held a masked ________________.
  2. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  3. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  4. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  5. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  6. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  7. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  8. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  9. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  10. That was a fun ________________.
  11. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  12. He was locked up in a ________________.
  13. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  14. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  15. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  16. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  17. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  18. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  19. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  20. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  21. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  22. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  23. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  24. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.

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

Answer key

  1. ball — a dance
  2. game — wild animals
  3. content — videos and posts
  4. cell — in biology
  5. content — happy
  6. march — the month
  7. spring — a coil
  8. cell — a phone
  9. spring — of water
  10. game — a match
  11. cap — of ice
  12. cell — in a prison
  13. cap — a lid
  14. march — the month
  15. content — the amount
  16. fine — all right
  17. march — music
  18. cap — a hat
  19. ball — a round shape
  20. fine — high quality
  21. game — a kind of play
  22. fine — a penalty
  23. spring — the season
  24. ball — a great time

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