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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. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  2. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  3. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  4. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  5. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  6. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  7. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  8. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  9. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  10. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  11. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  12. That must've been a ________________.
  13. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  14. That was a fun ________________.
  15. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  16. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  17. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  18. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  19. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  20. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  21. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  22. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  23. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  24. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — the animal
  2. game — wild animals
  3. firm — steady
  4. content — the amount
  5. content — happy
  6. game — a kind of play
  7. firm — a company
  8. hand — help
  9. kid — to tease
  10. bat — in an idiom
  11. kid — child
  12. rush — a thrill
  13. firm — decided
  14. game — a match
  15. hand — in cards
  16. present — a gift
  17. content — videos and posts
  18. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  19. present — there
  20. hand — part of the body
  21. rush — to hurry
  22. present — the time now
  23. rush — hurry
  24. bat — for baseball

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