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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. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  2. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  3. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  4. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  5. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  6. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  7. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  8. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  9. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  10. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  11. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  12. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  13. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  14. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  15. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  16. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  17. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  18. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  19. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  20. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  21. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  22. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  23. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  24. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.

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

Answer key

  1. present — a gift
  2. band — a ring
  3. band — a music group
  4. hand — help
  5. lash — to lash out
  6. band — a rubber band
  7. straw — a straw man
  8. hand — part of the body
  9. content — happy
  10. present — there
  11. content — videos and posts
  12. pitch — a sports field
  13. hand — in cards
  14. lash — a whip stroke
  15. straw — to clutch at straws
  16. chip — to eat
  17. content — the amount
  18. present — the time now
  19. chip — for betting
  20. pitch — completely
  21. straw — dry grass
  22. chip — in a computer
  23. lash — an eyelash
  24. pitch — a sales talk

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