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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. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  2. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  3. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  4. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  5. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  6. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  7. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  8. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  9. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  10. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  11. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  12. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  13. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  14. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  15. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  16. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  17. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  18. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  19. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  20. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  21. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  22. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  23. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  24. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rock — music
  2. file — a tool
  3. rock — a stone
  4. race — the arms race
  5. race — a contest
  6. content — the amount
  7. kid — child
  8. content — videos and posts
  9. content — happy
  10. toast — the most admired
  11. bat — the animal
  12. bat — in an idiom
  13. race — humankind
  14. file — a document
  15. deal — to handle
  16. toast — a drink to someone
  17. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  18. rock — to move gently
  19. deal — a big deal
  20. bat — for baseball
  21. kid — to tease
  22. deal — an agreement
  23. toast — bread
  24. file — a line of people

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