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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. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  3. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  4. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  5. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  6. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  7. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  8. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  9. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  10. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  11. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  12. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  13. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  14. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  15. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  16. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  17. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  18. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  19. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  20. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  21. It's one o'clock ________________.
  22. The ________________ went through the wall.
  23. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  24. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. bat — the animal
  3. nail — for a hammer
  4. trunk — of an elephant
  5. tear — to rip
  6. content — the amount
  7. chair — to sit on
  8. vault — an arched ceiling
  9. trunk — of a car
  10. vault — a safe
  11. vault — in gymnastics
  12. chair — a professorship
  13. content — videos and posts
  14. tear — from crying
  15. trunk — of a tree
  16. nail — on a finger
  17. bat — in an idiom
  18. sharp — with an edge
  19. sharp — clever
  20. chair — a leader
  21. sharp — exactly
  22. nail — for a hammer
  23. bat — for baseball
  24. tear — from crying

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