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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. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  2. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  3. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  4. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  5. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  6. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  7. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  8. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  9. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  10. That was a fun ________________.
  11. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  12. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  13. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  14. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  15. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  16. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  17. We're on a ________________ here.
  18. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  19. The ________________ took off on time.
  20. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  21. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  22. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  23. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  24. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. content — the amount
  3. game — wild animals
  4. bat — the animal
  5. bat — in an idiom
  6. rest — what's left
  7. fine — high quality
  8. fine — a penalty
  9. wind — to turn a key
  10. game — a match
  11. game — a kind of play
  12. roll — a list
  13. plane — in geometry
  14. bat — for baseball
  15. fine — all right
  16. wind — moving air
  17. roll — on a roll
  18. roll — a cake
  19. plane — an aircraft
  20. rest — a break
  21. rest — what's left
  22. content — videos and posts
  23. content — happy
  24. plane — a tool

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