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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 office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  2. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  3. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  4. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  5. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  6. My father caught me by the ________________.
  7. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  8. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  9. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  10. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  11. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  12. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  13. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  14. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  15. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  16. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  17. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  18. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  19. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  20. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  21. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  22. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  23. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  24. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.

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

Answer key

  1. staff — employees
  2. staff — a stick
  3. row — a line
  4. arm — a part of something
  5. kick — a thrill
  6. arm — part of the body
  7. row — to paddle
  8. fork — a garden tool
  9. arm — part of the body
  10. march — music
  11. content — the amount
  12. bat — for baseball
  13. fork — in a road
  14. content — videos and posts
  15. content — happy
  16. bat — in an idiom
  17. march — the month
  18. bat — the animal
  19. row — a quarrel
  20. staff — employees
  21. fork — to eat with
  22. march — the month
  23. kick — with a leg
  24. kick — in football

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