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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. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  2. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  3. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  4. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  5. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  6. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  7. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  8. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  9. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  10. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  11. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  12. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  13. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  14. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  15. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  16. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  17. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  18. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  19. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  20. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  21. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  22. David sat on the ________________.
  23. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  24. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?

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

Answer key

  1. present — there
  2. cap — of ice
  3. cap — a lid
  4. fan — to cool the air
  5. band — a ring
  6. content — happy
  7. band — a rubber band
  8. bat — the animal
  9. content — videos and posts
  10. fan — a supporter
  11. bat — in an idiom
  12. rest — what's left
  13. present — a gift
  14. content — the amount
  15. swing — music
  16. band — a music group
  17. present — the time now
  18. cap — a hat
  19. bat — for baseball
  20. rest — a break
  21. rest — what's left
  22. swing — to play on
  23. swing — in golf
  24. fan — a supporter

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