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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. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  3. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  4. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  5. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  6. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  7. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  8. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  9. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  10. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  11. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  12. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  13. False peace will not ________________.
  14. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  15. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  16. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  17. Don't do anything ________________.
  18. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  19. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  20. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  21. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  22. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  23. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  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 — to tease
  2. rash — on the skin
  3. cue — a signal
  4. content — happy
  5. rash — a series
  6. bore — to tire
  7. cue — a hint
  8. content — the amount
  9. last — final
  10. bore — gave birth
  11. jam — a tight spot
  12. cue — for pool
  13. last — to go on
  14. jam — to spread on bread
  15. race — the arms race
  16. bore — to drill
  17. rash — hasty
  18. last — finally
  19. race — humankind
  20. race — a contest
  21. jam — in traffic
  22. kid — child
  23. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  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