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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. She's very handy with a ________________.
  2. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  3. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  4. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  5. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  6. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  7. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  8. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  9. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  10. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  11. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  12. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  13. When are we going to ________________?
  14. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  15. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  16. That was ________________ to happen.
  17. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  18. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  19. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  20. He works in a ________________ mill.
  21. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  22. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  23. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  24. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. saw — the tool
  2. hand — in cards
  3. band — a rubber band
  4. bound — tied together
  5. wake — before a funeral
  6. content — the amount
  7. hand — help
  8. bound — obliged
  9. wake — a trail
  10. content — videos and posts
  11. land — a country
  12. pit — a hole
  13. land — to come down
  14. wake — to stop sleeping
  15. saw — past of 'see'
  16. bound — certain
  17. pit — in a race
  18. band — a music group
  19. band — a ring
  20. saw — the tool
  21. land — ground
  22. content — happy
  23. pit — a fruit stone
  24. hand — part of the body

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