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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 124 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 hit the ball with his ________________.
  2. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  3. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  4. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  5. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  6. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  7. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  8. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  9. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  10. I'll be taking the ________________.
  11. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  12. She's very handy with a ________________.
  13. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  14. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  15. When are we going to ________________?
  16. He works in a ________________ mill.
  17. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  18. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  19. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  20. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  21. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  22. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  23. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  24. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.

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

Answer key

  1. racket — for tennis
  2. content — happy
  3. kick — a thrill
  4. racket — for tennis
  5. kick — with a leg
  6. track — to keep track
  7. land — a country
  8. chair — a professorship
  9. saw — past of 'see'
  10. tube — the underground
  11. tube — a container
  12. saw — the tool
  13. kick — in football
  14. racket — a loud noise
  15. land — to come down
  16. saw — the tool
  17. chair — to sit on
  18. chair — a leader
  19. tube — in a tire
  20. content — videos and posts
  21. content — the amount
  22. track — a song
  23. land — ground
  24. track — a path

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