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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: object · game · march · bay · content · swing · tear · cell

  1. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  2. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  3. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  4. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  5. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  6. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  7. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  8. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  9. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  10. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  11. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  12. That was a fun ________________.
  13. David sat on the ________________.
  14. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  15. He was locked up in a ________________.
  16. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  17. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  18. My mare is ________________ in color.
  19. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  20. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  21. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  22. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  23. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  24. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — a phone
  2. game — a kind of play
  3. object — an aim
  4. content — happy
  5. game — wild animals
  6. march — the month
  7. bay — a part of the sea
  8. march — the month
  9. tear — to rip
  10. content — videos and posts
  11. tear — from crying
  12. game — a match
  13. swing — to play on
  14. content — the amount
  15. cell — in a prison
  16. object — a thing
  17. object — to protest
  18. bay — a horse colour
  19. bay — to keep at bay
  20. cell — in biology
  21. swing — music
  22. march — music
  23. swing — in golf
  24. tear — from crying

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