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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. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  2. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  3. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  4. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  5. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  6. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  7. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  8. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  9. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  10. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  11. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  12. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  13. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  14. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  15. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  16. We're on a ________________ here.
  17. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  18. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  19. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  20. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  21. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  22. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  23. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  24. Check the label for the sugar ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — for digging
  2. hide — animal skin
  3. row — a line
  4. club — for golf
  5. club — for dancing
  6. roll — a list
  7. row — to paddle
  8. stem — to come from
  9. bat — for baseball
  10. club — a group
  11. mine — belonging to me
  12. roll — a cake
  13. content — videos and posts
  14. hide — to keep secret
  15. hide — to keep secret
  16. roll — on a roll
  17. stem — of a plant
  18. stem — a stem cell
  19. bat — in an idiom
  20. mine — an explosive
  21. bat — the animal
  22. content — happy
  23. row — a quarrel
  24. content — the amount

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