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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. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  2. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  3. That was a fun ________________.
  4. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  5. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  6. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  7. The ________________ went through the wall.
  8. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  9. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  10. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  11. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  12. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  13. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  14. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  15. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  16. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  17. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  18. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  19. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  20. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  21. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  22. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  23. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  24. We were using a ________________ as a seat.

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

Answer key

  1. content — the amount
  2. bat — the animal
  3. game — a match
  4. bat — for baseball
  5. rule — to rule out
  6. drill — army training
  7. nail — for a hammer
  8. content — videos and posts
  9. nail — for a hammer
  10. rule — government
  11. content — happy
  12. nail — on a finger
  13. game — a kind of play
  14. drill — the tool
  15. rule — a law
  16. rock — music
  17. drill — a practice
  18. rock — to move gently
  19. race — the arms race
  20. game — wild animals
  21. race — a contest
  22. race — humankind
  23. bat — in an idiom
  24. rock — a stone

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