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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 pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  2. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  3. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  4. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  5. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  6. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  7. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  8. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  9. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  10. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  11. That was a fun ________________.
  12. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  13. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  14. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  15. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  16. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  17. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  18. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  19. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  20. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  21. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  22. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  23. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  24. I play ________________ in a jazz band.

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

Answer key

  1. game — wild animals
  2. content — videos and posts
  3. cap — a lid
  4. stem — of a plant
  5. drill — a practice
  6. cap — of ice
  7. content — happy
  8. drill — army training
  9. bass — low music
  10. bass — the fish
  11. game — a match
  12. bat — for baseball
  13. game — a kind of play
  14. stem — a stem cell
  15. band — a rubber band
  16. content — the amount
  17. band — a music group
  18. stem — to come from
  19. bat — in an idiom
  20. drill — the tool
  21. band — a ring
  22. cap — a hat
  23. bat — the animal
  24. bass — the instrument

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