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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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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: net · band · content · bore · wind · bat · tear · chair

  1. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  2. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  3. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  4. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  5. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  6. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  7. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  8. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  9. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  10. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  11. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  12. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  13. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  14. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  15. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  16. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  17. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  18. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  19. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  20. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  21. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  22. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  23. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  24. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a leader
  2. net — for catching
  3. bat — in an idiom
  4. content — videos and posts
  5. band — a rubber band
  6. bore — to tire
  7. chair — a professorship
  8. bat — the animal
  9. bat — for baseball
  10. tear — to rip
  11. wind — moving air
  12. net — after costs
  13. tear — from crying
  14. wind — moving air
  15. content — the amount
  16. bore — to drill
  17. net — in sport
  18. content — happy
  19. chair — to sit on
  20. bore — gave birth
  21. wind — to turn a key
  22. band — a music group
  23. tear — from crying
  24. band — a ring

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