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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 116 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 old man leaned on his ________________.
  2. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  3. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  4. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  5. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  6. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  7. I'll be taking the ________________.
  8. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  9. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  10. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  11. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  12. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  13. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  14. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  15. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  16. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  17. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  18. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  19. Don't do anything ________________.
  20. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  21. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  22. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  23. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  24. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.

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

Answer key

  1. staff — a stick
  2. drill — army training
  3. content — happy
  4. rash — on the skin
  5. rash — a series
  6. pitch — a sports field
  7. tube — the underground
  8. drill — a practice
  9. content — the amount
  10. band — a rubber band
  11. scale — in music
  12. band — a ring
  13. tube — in a tire
  14. staff — employees
  15. drill — the tool
  16. scale — size or range
  17. pitch — a sales talk
  18. staff — employees
  19. rash — hasty
  20. scale — for weighing
  21. tube — a container
  22. band — a music group
  23. content — videos and posts
  24. pitch — completely

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