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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. Did you ________________ the button?
  2. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  3. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  4. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  5. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  6. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  7. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  8. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  9. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  10. The King held a masked ________________.
  11. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  12. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  13. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  14. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  15. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  16. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  17. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  18. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  19. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  20. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  21. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  22. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  23. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  24. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

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

Answer key

  1. press — to push
  2. object — to protest
  3. bat — in an idiom
  4. ball — a great time
  5. wax — for sculpting
  6. object — a thing
  7. bat — the animal
  8. wax — in the ear
  9. press — newspapers
  10. ball — a dance
  11. fork — a garden tool
  12. content — videos and posts
  13. fork — to eat with
  14. content — happy
  15. ball — a round shape
  16. content — the amount
  17. object — an aim
  18. press — a publisher
  19. wax — to grow
  20. chip — in a computer
  21. chip — to eat
  22. chip — for betting
  23. fork — in a road
  24. bat — for baseball

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