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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. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  2. Don't do anything ________________.
  3. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  4. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  5. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  6. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  7. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  8. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  9. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  10. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  11. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  12. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  13. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  14. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  15. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  16. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  17. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  18. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  19. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  20. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  21. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  22. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  23. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  24. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — for baseball
  2. rash — hasty
  3. content — happy
  4. face — to confront
  5. hand — in cards
  6. club — a group
  7. dip — to sink
  8. content — videos and posts
  9. bat — in an idiom
  10. face — part of the head
  11. object — to protest
  12. hand — part of the body
  13. dip — a sauce
  14. rash — a series
  15. bat — the animal
  16. rash — on the skin
  17. content — the amount
  18. hand — help
  19. club — for dancing
  20. dip — to dunk
  21. object — a thing
  22. object — an aim
  23. club — for golf
  24. face — to point toward

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