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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 ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  2. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  3. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  4. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  5. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  6. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  7. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  8. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  9. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  10. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  11. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  12. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  13. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  14. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  15. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  16. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  17. The ball is in your ________________.
  18. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  19. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  20. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  21. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  22. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  23. That was ________________ to happen.
  24. I would like to have a ________________ here.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — the animal
  2. dip — to dunk
  3. content — happy
  4. bound — tied together
  5. content — videos and posts
  6. chair — a professorship
  7. rest — what's left
  8. content — the amount
  9. bat — for baseball
  10. kid — to tease
  11. dip — to sink
  12. chair — to sit on
  13. rest — what's left
  14. chair — a leader
  15. dip — a sauce
  16. court — of a king
  17. court — for sport
  18. bat — in an idiom
  19. bound — obliged
  20. kid — child
  21. court — of law
  22. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  23. bound — certain
  24. rest — a break

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