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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 who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  3. That was a fun ________________.
  4. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  5. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  6. The King held a masked ________________.
  7. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  8. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  9. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  10. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  11. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  12. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  13. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  14. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  15. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  16. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  17. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  18. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  19. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  20. Don't do anything ________________.
  21. My father caught me by the ________________.
  22. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  23. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  24. The kitten curled into a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. content — videos and posts
  2. fall — to drop
  3. game — a match
  4. arm — part of the body
  5. ball — a great time
  6. ball — a dance
  7. fall — the season
  8. band — a music group
  9. game — a kind of play
  10. content — the amount
  11. band — a rubber band
  12. content — happy
  13. rash — a series
  14. game — wild animals
  15. patient — a sick person
  16. band — a ring
  17. patient — a sick person
  18. patient — calm and waiting
  19. fall — to drop
  20. rash — hasty
  21. arm — part of the body
  22. arm — a part of something
  23. rash — on the skin
  24. ball — a round shape

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