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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. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  2. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  3. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  4. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  5. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  6. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  7. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  8. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  9. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  10. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  11. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  12. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  13. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  14. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  15. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  16. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  17. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  18. When are we going to ________________?
  19. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  20. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  21. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  22. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  23. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  24. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — for baseball
  2. bat — in an idiom
  3. cue — a signal
  4. cue — a hint
  5. deal — a big deal
  6. field — a subject
  7. content — happy
  8. band — a ring
  9. board — to get on
  10. bat — the animal
  11. field — for sport
  12. band — a music group
  13. land — ground
  14. content — the amount
  15. field — farmland
  16. board — a flat piece
  17. deal — an agreement
  18. land — to come down
  19. content — videos and posts
  20. band — a rubber band
  21. land — a country
  22. deal — to handle
  23. board — a committee
  24. cue — for pool

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