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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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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: nail · bat · hand · fan · track · content · toast · tear

  1. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  2. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  3. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  4. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  5. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  6. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  7. The ________________ went through the wall.
  8. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  9. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  10. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  11. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  12. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  13. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  14. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  15. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  16. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  17. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  18. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  19. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  20. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  21. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  22. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  23. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  24. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — to cool the air
  2. content — videos and posts
  3. toast — the most admired
  4. track — a song
  5. toast — a drink to someone
  6. hand — in cards
  7. nail — for a hammer
  8. content — the amount
  9. fan — a supporter
  10. toast — bread
  11. tear — to rip
  12. track — a path
  13. fan — a supporter
  14. hand — help
  15. track — to keep track
  16. bat — in an idiom
  17. bat — the animal
  18. tear — from crying
  19. content — happy
  20. nail — for a hammer
  21. tear — from crying
  22. nail — on a finger
  23. hand — part of the body
  24. bat — for baseball

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