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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. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  3. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  4. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  5. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  6. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  7. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  8. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  9. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  10. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  11. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  12. He is an ace ________________.
  13. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  14. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  15. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  16. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  17. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  18. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  19. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  20. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  21. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  22. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  23. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  24. Fill up this ________________ with water.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. wave — with your hand
  3. bat — for baseball
  4. bat — the animal
  5. snap — to speak sharply
  6. scale — in music
  7. wave — a sudden rise
  8. content — videos and posts
  9. band — a music group
  10. pit — a fruit stone
  11. snap — to snap out of it
  12. pitcher — in baseball
  13. bat — in an idiom
  14. band — a ring
  15. pitcher — a jug
  16. wave — of the sea
  17. scale — size or range
  18. band — a rubber band
  19. pit — a hole
  20. scale — for weighing
  21. content — the amount
  22. pit — in a race
  23. snap — to click
  24. pitcher — a jug

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