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

  1. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  2. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  3. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  4. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  5. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  6. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  7. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  8. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  9. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  10. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  11. Have you met the new head ________________?
  12. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  13. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  14. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  15. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  16. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  17. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  18. Check the label for the sugar ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — the animal
  2. kid — to tease
  3. can — to be able to
  4. kid — child
  5. content — happy
  6. bat — for baseball
  7. can — a tin
  8. coach — a trainer
  9. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  10. wound — an injury
  11. coach — a trainer
  12. wound — an injury
  13. bat — in an idiom
  14. wound — past of 'wind'
  15. coach — pulled by horses
  16. can — a tin
  17. content — videos and posts
  18. content — the amount

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