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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. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  2. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  3. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  4. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  5. My father caught me by the ________________.
  6. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  7. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  8. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  9. We're on a ________________ here.
  10. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  11. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  12. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  13. That was a fun ________________.
  14. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  15. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  16. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  17. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  18. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  19. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  20. You don't need to ________________ round.
  21. We're almost out of ________________.
  22. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  23. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  24. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. arm — part of the body
  2. game — wild animals
  3. file — a line of people
  4. bat — in an idiom
  5. arm — part of the body
  6. bat — the animal
  7. dip — to dunk
  8. file — a tool
  9. roll — on a roll
  10. roll — a cake
  11. dip — a sauce
  12. file — a document
  13. game — a match
  14. arm — a part of something
  15. content — the amount
  16. roll — a list
  17. bat — for baseball
  18. dip — to sink
  19. game — a kind of play
  20. pop — to visit
  21. pop — soda
  22. pop — music
  23. content — videos and posts
  24. content — happy

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