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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: rest · sharp · scale · season · content · cell · bat · spring

  1. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  2. Did you ________________ the meat?
  3. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  4. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  5. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  6. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  7. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  8. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  9. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  10. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  11. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  12. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  13. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  14. It's one o'clock ________________.
  15. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  16. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  17. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  18. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  19. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  20. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  21. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  22. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  23. He was locked up in a ________________.
  24. He's quite ________________, isn't he?

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

Answer key

  1. scale — for weighing
  2. season — to add flavour
  3. bat — for baseball
  4. season — in sport
  5. scale — size or range
  6. content — happy
  7. bat — the animal
  8. rest — what's left
  9. sharp — with an edge
  10. spring — the season
  11. scale — in music
  12. cell — a phone
  13. content — the amount
  14. sharp — exactly
  15. rest — what's left
  16. spring — a coil
  17. content — videos and posts
  18. spring — of water
  19. cell — in biology
  20. bat — in an idiom
  21. season — of the year
  22. rest — a break
  23. cell — in a prison
  24. sharp — clever

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