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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 120 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. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  2. False peace will not ________________.
  3. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  4. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  5. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  6. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  7. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  8. When are we going to ________________?
  9. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  10. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  11. The light ________________ burned out.
  12. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  13. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  14. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  15. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  16. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  17. I've got to change the light ________________.
  18. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  19. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  20. Don't do anything ________________.
  21. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  22. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  23. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  24. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — the animal
  2. last — to go on
  3. bat — in an idiom
  4. rash — on the skin
  5. bulb — of a plant
  6. land — a country
  7. last — final
  8. land — to come down
  9. last — finally
  10. chest — a box
  11. bulb — for light
  12. content — videos and posts
  13. chest — of your body
  14. stick — a piece of wood
  15. bat — for baseball
  16. rash — a series
  17. bulb — for light
  18. content — happy
  19. land — ground
  20. rash — hasty
  21. stick — a piece of wood
  22. content — the amount
  23. stick — to attach or keep to
  24. chest — of your body

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