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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 · wind · tube · bat · scale · board · shower · content

  1. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  2. I'll be taking the ________________.
  3. He was locked up in a ________________.
  4. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  5. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  6. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  7. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  8. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  9. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  10. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  11. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  12. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  13. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  14. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  15. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  16. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  17. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  18. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  19. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  20. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  21. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  22. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  23. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  24. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!

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

Answer key

  1. content — videos and posts
  2. tube — the underground
  3. cell — in a prison
  4. shower — to wash
  5. content — the amount
  6. tube — in a tire
  7. shower — rain
  8. bat — in an idiom
  9. board — a flat piece
  10. wind — moving air
  11. board — a committee
  12. tube — a container
  13. wind — to turn a key
  14. shower — a meteor shower
  15. content — happy
  16. board — to get on
  17. bat — the animal
  18. cell — in biology
  19. bat — for baseball
  20. scale — in music
  21. scale — for weighing
  22. scale — size or range
  23. wind — moving air
  24. cell — a phone

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