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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: jam · fan · row · lie · content · hand · bat · cap

  1. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  3. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  4. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  5. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  6. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  7. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  8. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  9. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  10. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  11. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  12. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  13. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  14. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  15. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  16. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  17. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  18. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  19. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  20. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  21. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  22. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  23. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  24. The polar ice ________________ is melting.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. content — videos and posts
  3. jam — to spread on bread
  4. cap — a lid
  5. fan — a supporter
  6. hand — help
  7. row — a line
  8. lie — to recline
  9. bat — in an idiom
  10. bat — the animal
  11. cap — a hat
  12. jam — a tight spot
  13. row — to paddle
  14. bat — for baseball
  15. jam — in traffic
  16. hand — in cards
  17. hand — part of the body
  18. lie — an untruth
  19. row — a quarrel
  20. fan — a supporter
  21. lie — an untruth
  22. content — the amount
  23. fan — to cool the air
  24. cap — of ice

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