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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 don't want to ________________ the boat.
  2. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  3. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  4. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  5. Have you met the new head ________________?
  6. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  7. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  12. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  13. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  14. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  15. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  18. That was a fun ________________.
  19. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  20. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  21. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  22. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  23. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  24. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rock — to move gently
  2. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  3. content — videos and posts
  4. game — wild animals
  5. coach — a trainer
  6. coach — a trainer
  7. bear — to put up with
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. rock — a stone
  10. cold — not warm
  11. bear — the animal
  12. lash — an eyelash
  13. content — happy
  14. coach — pulled by horses
  15. lash — a whip stroke
  16. cold — an illness
  17. rock — music
  18. game — a match
  19. content — the amount
  20. lash — to lash out
  21. bear — the animal
  22. kid — to tease
  23. game — a kind of play
  24. kid — child

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