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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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  2. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  3. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  4. My mare is ________________ in color.
  5. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  6. Don't do anything ________________.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  11. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  12. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  13. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  14. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  15. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  16. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  17. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  18. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. ruler — for measuring
  2. bat — for baseball
  3. content — videos and posts
  4. bay — a horse colour
  5. rash — on the skin
  6. rash — hasty
  7. cold — an illness
  8. bay — a part of the sea
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. rash — a series
  11. bat — the animal
  12. content — happy
  13. ruler — a monarch
  14. bay — to keep at bay
  15. content — the amount
  16. ruler — for measuring
  17. bat — in an idiom
  18. cold — not warm

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