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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. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  2. He was locked up in a ________________.
  3. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  4. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  5. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  6. My father caught me by the ________________.
  7. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  8. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  9. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  10. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  11. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  12. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  13. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  14. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  15. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  16. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  17. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  18. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  19. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  20. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  21. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  22. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  23. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  24. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. content — videos and posts
  2. cell — in a prison
  3. straw — to clutch at straws
  4. toast — a drink to someone
  5. arm — a part of something
  6. arm — part of the body
  7. bat — in an idiom
  8. cell — a phone
  9. arm — part of the body
  10. bat — for baseball
  11. content — happy
  12. wave — of the sea
  13. straw — dry grass
  14. straw — a straw man
  15. wave — with your hand
  16. toast — the most admired
  17. cell — in biology
  18. bat — the animal
  19. wave — a sudden rise
  20. band — a ring
  21. content — the amount
  22. band — a rubber band
  23. toast — bread
  24. band — a music group

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