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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. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  2. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  3. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  4. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  5. My father caught me by the ________________.
  6. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  7. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  8. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  9. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  10. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  11. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  12. It's one o'clock ________________.
  13. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  14. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  15. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  16. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  17. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  18. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  19. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  20. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  21. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  22. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  23. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  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. band — a music group
  2. march — the month
  3. sharp — clever
  4. kid — child
  5. arm — part of the body
  6. chair — to sit on
  7. wax — for sculpting
  8. content — happy
  9. arm — part of the body
  10. band — a rubber band
  11. band — a ring
  12. sharp — exactly
  13. chair — a leader
  14. march — the month
  15. march — music
  16. kid — to tease
  17. wax — in the ear
  18. wax — to grow
  19. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  20. content — videos and posts
  21. sharp — with an edge
  22. arm — a part of something
  23. chair — a professorship
  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