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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. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  2. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  3. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  6. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  7. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  10. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  11. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  12. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  13. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  14. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  17. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  18. The ________________ went through the wall.
  19. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  20. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  21. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  22. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  23. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  24. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.

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

Answer key

  1. content — videos and posts
  2. bat — the animal
  3. pitch — a sales talk
  4. cold — an illness
  5. pitch — a sports field
  6. wax — for sculpting
  7. nail — on a finger
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. pitch — completely
  10. bat — for baseball
  11. club — for dancing
  12. wax — in the ear
  13. wax — to grow
  14. club — a group
  15. cold — not warm
  16. jam — in traffic
  17. content — the amount
  18. nail — for a hammer
  19. jam — a tight spot
  20. content — happy
  21. bat — in an idiom
  22. club — for golf
  23. jam — to spread on bread
  24. nail — for a hammer

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