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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. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  3. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  4. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  5. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  6. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  7. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  8. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  9. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  10. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  11. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  12. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  13. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  14. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  15. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  16. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  17. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  18. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  19. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  20. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  21. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  22. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  23. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  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. cap — a hat
  3. pound — a weight
  4. shower — rain
  5. pound — to hit hard
  6. content — happy
  7. pound — for dogs
  8. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  9. shower — a meteor shower
  10. root — of a plant
  11. cap — of ice
  12. bore — to tire
  13. racket — for tennis
  14. kid — child
  15. cap — a lid
  16. bore — to drill
  17. racket — a loud noise
  18. root — the cause
  19. content — the amount
  20. racket — for tennis
  21. shower — to wash
  22. root — of a word
  23. bore — gave birth
  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