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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. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  2. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  3. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  4. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  7. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  8. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  11. The ________________ went through the wall.
  12. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  13. Where did you ________________ them?
  14. The ball is in your ________________.
  15. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  16. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  17. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  18. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  19. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  20. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  23. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  24. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.

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

Answer key

  1. nail — on a finger
  2. present — the time now
  3. present — a gift
  4. nail — for a hammer
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. content — the amount
  7. content — videos and posts
  8. present — there
  9. cold — not warm
  10. mine — belonging to me
  11. nail — for a hammer
  12. court — of a king
  13. mug — to rob
  14. court — for sport
  15. mine — for digging
  16. mine — an explosive
  17. bat — the animal
  18. content — happy
  19. court — of law
  20. bat — for baseball
  21. cold — an illness
  22. mug — a cup
  23. bat — in an idiom
  24. mug — a face

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