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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. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  3. My father caught me by the ________________.
  4. That was a fun ________________.
  5. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  6. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  7. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  8. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  9. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  10. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  11. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  12. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  13. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  14. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  15. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  16. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  17. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  18. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  19. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  20. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  21. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  22. David sat on the ________________.
  23. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  24. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.

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

Answer key

  1. content — the amount
  2. game — a kind of play
  3. arm — part of the body
  4. game — a match
  5. content — happy
  6. content — videos and posts
  7. drill — the tool
  8. arm — part of the body
  9. drill — a practice
  10. pass — to spend time
  11. arm — a part of something
  12. craft — boats
  13. straw — to clutch at straws
  14. pass — to succeed
  15. straw — dry grass
  16. craft — a skill
  17. craft — a handicraft
  18. game — wild animals
  19. swing — music
  20. pass — a permit
  21. straw — a straw man
  22. swing — to play on
  23. drill — army training
  24. swing — in golf

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