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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. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  3. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  4. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  5. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  6. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  7. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  8. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  9. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  10. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  11. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  12. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  13. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  14. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  15. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  16. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  17. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  18. Did you ________________ the meat?

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. dip — a sauce
  3. content — the amount
  4. season — of the year
  5. mine — an explosive
  6. present — the time now
  7. mine — belonging to me
  8. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  9. content — videos and posts
  10. present — a gift
  11. mine — for digging
  12. season — in sport
  13. dip — to dunk
  14. present — there
  15. kid — to tease
  16. kid — child
  17. dip — to sink
  18. season — to add flavour

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