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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. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  2. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  3. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  4. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  5. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  6. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  7. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  8. The King held a masked ________________.
  9. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  10. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  11. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  12. David sat on the ________________.
  13. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  14. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  15. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  16. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  17. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  18. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  19. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  20. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  21. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  22. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  23. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  24. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.

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

Answer key

  1. content — videos and posts
  2. hand — help
  3. rule — a law
  4. racket — a loud noise
  5. snap — to click
  6. hand — part of the body
  7. trunk — of a car
  8. ball — a dance
  9. ball — a great time
  10. trunk — of an elephant
  11. content — the amount
  12. swing — to play on
  13. rule — government
  14. hand — in cards
  15. racket — for tennis
  16. swing — in golf
  17. content — happy
  18. racket — for tennis
  19. swing — music
  20. rule — to rule out
  21. snap — to speak sharply
  22. ball — a round shape
  23. trunk — of a tree
  24. snap — to snap out of it

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