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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: game · face · suit · content · last · bat · clip · saw

  1. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  2. When will it ________________ you to start?
  3. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  6. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  7. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  8. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  9. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  10. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  11. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  12. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  15. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  16. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  17. He works in a ________________ mill.
  18. She's very handy with a ________________.
  19. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  20. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  21. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  22. That was a fun ________________.
  23. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  24. False peace will not ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. suit — clothes
  2. suit — to fit
  3. bat — in an idiom
  4. clip — for paper
  5. last — finally
  6. content — the amount
  7. last — final
  8. content — happy
  9. game — a kind of play
  10. suit — in cards
  11. content — videos and posts
  12. bat — the animal
  13. clip — a video
  14. bat — for baseball
  15. face — to point toward
  16. saw — past of 'see'
  17. saw — the tool
  18. saw — the tool
  19. game — wild animals
  20. face — part of the head
  21. face — to confront
  22. game — a match
  23. clip — to cut
  24. last — to go 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