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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. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  2. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  3. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  4. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  5. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  6. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  7. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  8. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  9. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  10. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  11. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  12. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  13. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  14. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  15. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  16. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  17. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  18. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  19. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  20. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  21. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  22. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  23. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  24. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pit — a hole
  2. bat — for baseball
  3. bass — the fish
  4. wave — a sudden rise
  5. content — the amount
  6. hand — part of the body
  7. pit — in a race
  8. straw — a straw man
  9. wave — with your hand
  10. bat — in an idiom
  11. bass — the instrument
  12. bass — low music
  13. content — happy
  14. dip — a sauce
  15. straw — to clutch at straws
  16. pit — a fruit stone
  17. bat — the animal
  18. hand — help
  19. wave — of the sea
  20. dip — to sink
  21. hand — in cards
  22. dip — to dunk
  23. content — videos and posts
  24. straw — dry grass

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