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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 124 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. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  2. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  3. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  4. That was a fun ________________.
  5. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  6. My father caught me by the ________________.
  7. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  10. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  11. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  14. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  15. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  16. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  19. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  20. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  21. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  22. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  23. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  24. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.

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

Answer key

  1. content — the amount
  2. bank — for money
  3. jam — in traffic
  4. game — a match
  5. jam — a tight spot
  6. arm — part of the body
  7. arm — a part of something
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. jam — to spread on bread
  10. straw — dry grass
  11. bank — of a river
  12. cold — an illness
  13. chip — for betting
  14. content — videos and posts
  15. arm — part of the body
  16. chip — to eat
  17. cold — not warm
  18. straw — a straw man
  19. straw — to clutch at straws
  20. chip — in a computer
  21. bank — for money
  22. content — happy
  23. game — wild animals
  24. game — a kind of play

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