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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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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 had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  2. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  5. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  6. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  7. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  8. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  9. The ________________ market has crashed.
  10. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  13. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  14. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  15. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  16. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  17. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  18. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  19. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  20. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  21. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  22. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — child
  2. track — a path
  3. cold — an illness
  4. stock — goods
  5. snap — to speak sharply
  6. track — to keep track
  7. snap — to snap out of it
  8. rest — a break
  9. stock — shares
  10. content — videos and posts
  11. cold — not warm
  12. track — a song
  13. stock — a soup base
  14. snap — to click
  15. vault — an arched ceiling
  16. vault — a safe
  17. content — the amount
  18. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  19. vault — in gymnastics
  20. rest — what's left
  21. kid — to tease
  22. content — happy
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. rest — what's left

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