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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. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  2. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  3. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  4. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  5. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  6. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  7. Did you ________________ the button?
  8. Don't do anything ________________.
  9. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  10. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  11. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  12. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  13. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  14. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  15. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  16. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  17. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  18. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  19. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  20. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  21. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  22. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  23. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  24. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — child
  2. kid — to tease
  3. content — happy
  4. chest — of your body
  5. deal — a big deal
  6. calf — a young animal
  7. press — to push
  8. rash — hasty
  9. capital — a city
  10. capital — a big letter
  11. press — newspapers
  12. capital — money
  13. content — the amount
  14. rash — on the skin
  15. deal — to handle
  16. calf — of the leg
  17. press — a publisher
  18. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  19. deal — an agreement
  20. chest — a box
  21. chest — of your body
  22. calf — a young animal
  23. rash — a series
  24. content — videos and posts

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