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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.

Make a worksheet

Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

Words on the sheet
468
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: object · chair · march · content · game · temple · bat · cold

  1. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  4. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  5. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  6. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  7. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  10. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  11. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  12. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  15. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  16. That was a fun ________________.
  17. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  18. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  19. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  20. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  21. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  22. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  23. When was this ________________ built?
  24. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.

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

Answer key

  1. game — wild animals
  2. cold — an illness
  3. chair — to sit on
  4. content — happy
  5. object — to protest
  6. object — a thing
  7. chair — a leader
  8. cold — not warm
  9. march — the month
  10. march — the month
  11. game — a kind of play
  12. content — videos and posts
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. chair — a professorship
  15. temple — a place of worship
  16. game — a match
  17. march — music
  18. bat — for baseball
  19. content — the amount
  20. temple — side of the head
  21. bat — the animal
  22. object — an aim
  23. temple — a place of worship
  24. bat — in an idiom

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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