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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. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  2. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  3. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  4. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  5. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  6. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  7. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  8. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  9. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  10. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  11. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  12. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  13. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  14. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  15. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  16. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  17. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  18. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  19. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  20. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  21. There's no middle ________________.
  22. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  23. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  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 — young goat (kid gloves)
  2. content — happy
  3. rock — to move gently
  4. safe — a strongbox
  5. ground — crushed
  6. perch — for a bird
  7. bear — the animal
  8. ground — the earth
  9. bear — the animal
  10. perch — for a bird
  11. bear — to put up with
  12. safe — out of danger
  13. kid — to tease
  14. rock — music
  15. safe — out of danger
  16. rock — a stone
  17. content — the amount
  18. capital — money
  19. perch — the fish
  20. capital — a big letter
  21. ground — a position
  22. kid — child
  23. capital — a city
  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