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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 116 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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  2. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  3. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  4. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  5. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  6. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  7. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  8. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  9. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  10. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  11. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  12. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  13. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  14. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  15. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  16. I'll be taking the ________________.
  17. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  18. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — a container
  2. kid — to tease
  3. mark — to pay attention
  4. cap — of ice
  5. tube — in a tire
  6. mark — a grade
  7. content — happy
  8. kid — child
  9. cap — a hat
  10. tear — from crying
  11. content — the amount
  12. cap — a lid
  13. content — videos and posts
  14. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  15. mark — a trace
  16. tube — the underground
  17. tear — from crying
  18. tear — to rip

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