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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 ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  2. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  3. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  4. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  5. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  6. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  7. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  8. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  9. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  10. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  11. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  12. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  13. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  14. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  15. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  16. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  17. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  18. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  19. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  20. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  21. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  22. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  23. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  24. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?

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

Answer key

  1. bat — the animal
  2. content — happy
  3. lash — an eyelash
  4. bear — to put up with
  5. fan — a supporter
  6. lash — to lash out
  7. content — videos and posts
  8. lash — a whip stroke
  9. file — a line of people
  10. straw — dry grass
  11. fan — to cool the air
  12. hide — to keep secret
  13. hide — to keep secret
  14. bat — for baseball
  15. bear — the animal
  16. straw — to clutch at straws
  17. straw — a straw man
  18. file — a tool
  19. bat — in an idiom
  20. bear — the animal
  21. hide — animal skin
  22. file — a document
  23. content — the amount
  24. fan — a supporter

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