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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. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  2. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  3. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  4. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  5. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  6. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  7. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  8. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  9. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  10. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  11. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  12. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  13. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  14. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  15. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  16. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  17. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  18. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  19. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  20. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  21. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  22. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  23. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  24. The ________________ change colour in autumn.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to speak sharply
  2. content — happy
  3. file — a line of people
  4. snap — to click
  5. leaves — to go away
  6. leaves — lets stay
  7. file — a tool
  8. chip — for betting
  9. kid — child
  10. chair — a professorship
  11. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  12. chip — in a computer
  13. bat — for baseball
  14. file — a document
  15. chair — to sit on
  16. kid — to tease
  17. chair — a leader
  18. bat — in an idiom
  19. chip — to eat
  20. content — the amount
  21. content — videos and posts
  22. snap — to snap out of it
  23. bat — the animal
  24. leaves — of a tree

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