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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. It's one o'clock ________________.
  3. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  4. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  5. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  6. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  7. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  8. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  9. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  10. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  11. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  12. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  13. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  14. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  15. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  16. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  17. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  18. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  19. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  20. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  21. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  22. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  23. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  24. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. content — videos and posts
  2. sharp — exactly
  3. band — a rubber band
  4. bat — in an idiom
  5. bat — the animal
  6. hand — in cards
  7. band — a ring
  8. object — a thing
  9. hand — help
  10. wind — moving air
  11. wind — moving air
  12. band — a music group
  13. chair — a leader
  14. hand — part of the body
  15. wind — to turn a key
  16. content — the amount
  17. bat — for baseball
  18. object — an aim
  19. sharp — clever
  20. sharp — with an edge
  21. content — happy
  22. chair — to sit on
  23. object — to protest
  24. chair — a professorship

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