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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. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  2. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  3. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  4. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  5. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  6. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  7. When was this ________________ built?
  8. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  9. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  10. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  11. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  12. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  13. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  14. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  15. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  16. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  17. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  18. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  19. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  20. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  21. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  22. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  23. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  24. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — help
  2. pitch — completely
  3. snap — to speak sharply
  4. bat — in an idiom
  5. board — a flat piece
  6. board — a committee
  7. temple — a place of worship
  8. pitch — a sports field
  9. content — the amount
  10. row — to paddle
  11. row — a quarrel
  12. snap — to snap out of it
  13. snap — to click
  14. pitch — a sales talk
  15. row — a line
  16. hand — in cards
  17. content — happy
  18. board — to get on
  19. bat — the animal
  20. temple — a place of worship
  21. temple — side of the head
  22. content — videos and posts
  23. hand — part of the body
  24. bat — for baseball

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