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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. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  3. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  4. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  5. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  6. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  7. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  8. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  9. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  10. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  11. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  12. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  13. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  14. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  15. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  16. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  17. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  18. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  19. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  20. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  21. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  22. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  23. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  24. We're on a ________________ here.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — the animal
  2. staff — employees
  3. band — a music group
  4. band — a ring
  5. bat — in an idiom
  6. bat — for baseball
  7. roll — a list
  8. content — videos and posts
  9. staff — a stick
  10. leaves — to go away
  11. band — a rubber band
  12. scale — size or range
  13. roll — a cake
  14. staff — employees
  15. leaves — of a tree
  16. straw — a straw man
  17. scale — in music
  18. content — happy
  19. content — the amount
  20. straw — dry grass
  21. leaves — lets stay
  22. straw — to clutch at straws
  23. scale — for weighing
  24. roll — on a roll

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