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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: chest · content · safe · cell · rest · current · spring · clip

  1. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  2. He was locked up in a ________________.
  3. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  4. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  5. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  6. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  7. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  8. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  9. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  10. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  11. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  14. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  15. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  16. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  17. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  18. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  19. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  20. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  21. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  22. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  23. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  24. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — of water
  2. cell — in a prison
  3. safe — out of danger
  4. chest — a box
  5. content — videos and posts
  6. clip — for paper
  7. current — electric
  8. rest — what's left
  9. chest — of your body
  10. rest — a break
  11. chest — of your body
  12. clip — a video
  13. content — happy
  14. rest — what's left
  15. current — of water
  16. cell — a phone
  17. content — the amount
  18. current — happening now
  19. safe — out of danger
  20. spring — a coil
  21. clip — to cut
  22. safe — a strongbox
  23. spring — the season
  24. cell — in biology

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