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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. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  2. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  3. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  4. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  5. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  6. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  7. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  8. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  9. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  10. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  11. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  12. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  13. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  14. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  15. False peace will not ________________.
  16. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  17. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  18. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  19. The King held a masked ________________.
  20. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  21. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  22. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  23. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  24. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a rubber band
  2. content — happy
  3. band — a ring
  4. content — the amount
  5. safe — a strongbox
  6. last — final
  7. bat — the animal
  8. march — the month
  9. march — music
  10. last — finally
  11. safe — out of danger
  12. bat — in an idiom
  13. bat — for baseball
  14. straw — to clutch at straws
  15. last — to go on
  16. content — videos and posts
  17. band — a music group
  18. ball — a round shape
  19. ball — a dance
  20. straw — dry grass
  21. safe — out of danger
  22. march — the month
  23. ball — a great time
  24. straw — a straw man

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