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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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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 · pound · bulb · wind · mate · content · chair · rush

  1. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  2. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  3. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  4. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  5. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  6. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  7. He was locked up in a ________________.
  8. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  9. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  10. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  11. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  12. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  13. Have you found your soul ________________?
  14. The light ________________ burned out.
  15. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  16. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  17. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  18. I've got to change the light ________________.
  19. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  20. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  21. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  22. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  23. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  24. That must've been a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — a friend
  2. chair — a professorship
  3. cell — in biology
  4. rush — to hurry
  5. rush — hurry
  6. chair — to sit on
  7. cell — in a prison
  8. content — videos and posts
  9. wind — to turn a key
  10. pound — for dogs
  11. bulb — of a plant
  12. chair — a leader
  13. mate — a partner
  14. bulb — for light
  15. pound — a weight
  16. wind — moving air
  17. pound — to hit hard
  18. bulb — for light
  19. mate — to breed
  20. cell — a phone
  21. content — happy
  22. wind — moving air
  23. content — the amount
  24. rush — a thrill

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