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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. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  2. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  3. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  4. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  5. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  6. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  7. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  8. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  9. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  10. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  11. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  12. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  13. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  14. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  15. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  16. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  17. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  18. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — in an idiom
  2. rock — to move gently
  3. scale — for weighing
  4. scale — size or range
  5. net — after costs
  6. rock — music
  7. fork — to eat with
  8. fork — a garden tool
  9. net — for catching
  10. bat — for baseball
  11. fork — in a road
  12. rock — a stone
  13. content — happy
  14. bat — the animal
  15. content — the amount
  16. net — in sport
  17. content — videos and posts
  18. scale — in music

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