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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. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  2. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  3. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  4. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  5. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  6. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  7. What do you think of the new ________________?
  8. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  9. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  10. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  11. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  12. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  13. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  14. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  15. David sat on the ________________.
  16. My father caught me by the ________________.
  17. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  18. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  19. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  20. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  21. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  22. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  23. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  24. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — for baseball
  2. arm — part of the body
  3. content — videos and posts
  4. shower — to wash
  5. bat — in an idiom
  6. fall — to drop
  7. cabinet — ministers
  8. swing — in golf
  9. hand — help
  10. content — happy
  11. shower — rain
  12. shower — a meteor shower
  13. bat — the animal
  14. arm — a part of something
  15. swing — to play on
  16. arm — part of the body
  17. hand — in cards
  18. cabinet — a cupboard
  19. fall — the season
  20. fall — to drop
  21. content — the amount
  22. swing — music
  23. hand — part of the body
  24. cabinet — ministers

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