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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. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  2. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  3. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  4. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  5. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  6. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  7. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  8. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  9. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  10. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  11. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  12. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  13. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  14. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  15. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  16. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  17. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  18. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  19. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  20. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  21. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  22. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  23. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  24. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — part of the body
  2. hand — in cards
  3. wind — moving air
  4. bowl — to roll
  5. wind — to turn a key
  6. rule — to rule out
  7. prune — to trim
  8. wind — moving air
  9. bowl — a dish
  10. bat — in an idiom
  11. prune — to trim
  12. bat — for baseball
  13. prune — the fruit
  14. content — videos and posts
  15. hand — help
  16. content — the amount
  17. drill — a practice
  18. bat — the animal
  19. drill — army training
  20. rule — government
  21. bowl — a football final
  22. content — happy
  23. drill — the tool
  24. rule — a law

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