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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. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  2. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  3. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  4. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  5. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  6. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  7. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  8. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  9. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  10. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  11. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  12. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  13. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  14. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  15. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  16. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  17. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  18. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  19. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  20. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  21. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  22. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  23. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  24. I've got the luggage in my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. deal — an agreement
  2. hand — in cards
  3. content — happy
  4. content — videos and posts
  5. object — to protest
  6. chair — a professorship
  7. trunk — of a tree
  8. object — a thing
  9. hand — help
  10. deal — to handle
  11. march — the month
  12. chair — a leader
  13. prune — the fruit
  14. hand — part of the body
  15. object — an aim
  16. prune — to trim
  17. content — the amount
  18. deal — a big deal
  19. march — the month
  20. chair — to sit on
  21. trunk — of an elephant
  22. march — music
  23. prune — to trim
  24. trunk — of a car

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