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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 120 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. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  2. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  3. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  4. The ball is in your ________________.
  5. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  6. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  7. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  8. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  9. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  10. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  11. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  12. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  13. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  14. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  15. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  16. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  17. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  18. False peace will not ________________.
  19. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  20. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  21. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  22. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  23. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  24. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. last — finally
  2. wake — before a funeral
  3. wake — to stop sleeping
  4. court — for sport
  5. lash — to lash out
  6. band — a rubber band
  7. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  8. court — of law
  9. hand — in cards
  10. content — videos and posts
  11. wake — a trail
  12. court — of a king
  13. content — happy
  14. hand — help
  15. kid — child
  16. last — final
  17. kid — to tease
  18. last — to go on
  19. lash — an eyelash
  20. hand — part of the body
  21. lash — a whip stroke
  22. content — the amount
  23. band — a ring
  24. band — a music group

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