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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 120 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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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: content · land · club · present · chair · band · game · bat

  1. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  2. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  3. That was a fun ________________.
  4. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  5. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  6. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  7. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  8. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  9. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  10. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  11. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  12. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  13. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  14. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  15. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  16. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  17. When are we going to ________________?
  18. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  19. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  20. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  21. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  22. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  23. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  24. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. land — a country
  2. band — a rubber band
  3. game — a match
  4. game — wild animals
  5. club — for golf
  6. land — ground
  7. band — a music group
  8. present — the time now
  9. chair — a leader
  10. content — happy
  11. bat — for baseball
  12. club — a group
  13. bat — in an idiom
  14. present — there
  15. present — a gift
  16. club — for dancing
  17. land — to come down
  18. content — videos and posts
  19. chair — a professorship
  20. content — the amount
  21. game — a kind of play
  22. bat — the animal
  23. band — a ring
  24. chair — to sit on

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