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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. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  2. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  3. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  4. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  5. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  6. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  7. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  8. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  9. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  10. My mare is ________________ in color.
  11. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  12. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  13. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  14. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  15. That was a fun ________________.
  16. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  17. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  18. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  19. The ball is in your ________________.
  20. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  21. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  22. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  23. Don't do anything ________________.
  24. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bay — a part of the sea
  2. rash — on the skin
  3. bat — the animal
  4. content — videos and posts
  5. straw — to clutch at straws
  6. bat — for baseball
  7. content — happy
  8. court — of a king
  9. can — a tin
  10. bay — a horse colour
  11. bat — in an idiom
  12. can — a tin
  13. straw — a straw man
  14. can — to be able to
  15. game — a match
  16. game — wild animals
  17. court — of law
  18. content — the amount
  19. court — for sport
  20. game — a kind of play
  21. rash — a series
  22. straw — dry grass
  23. rash — hasty
  24. bay — to keep at bay

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