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

  1. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  2. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  3. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  4. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  5. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  6. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  7. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  8. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  9. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  10. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  11. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  12. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  13. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  14. David sat on the ________________.
  15. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  16. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  17. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  18. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — for baseball
  2. content — happy
  3. bat — in an idiom
  4. swing — in golf
  5. chair — a leader
  6. mine — belonging to me
  7. chair — to sit on
  8. content — the amount
  9. content — videos and posts
  10. snap — to speak sharply
  11. mine — for digging
  12. swing — music
  13. mine — an explosive
  14. swing — to play on
  15. chair — a professorship
  16. snap — to snap out of it
  17. bat — the animal
  18. snap — to click

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