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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. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  2. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  3. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  4. What do you think of the new ________________?
  5. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  6. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  7. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  8. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  9. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  10. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  11. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  12. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  13. Did you ________________ the meat?
  14. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  15. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  16. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  17. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  18. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  19. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  20. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  21. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  22. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  23. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  24. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.

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

Answer key

  1. season — of the year
  2. kid — child
  3. bore — gave birth
  4. cabinet — ministers
  5. content — happy
  6. bore — to tire
  7. content — the amount
  8. straw — a straw man
  9. tear — from crying
  10. straw — to clutch at straws
  11. cabinet — a cupboard
  12. kid — to tease
  13. season — to add flavour
  14. club — for golf
  15. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  16. season — in sport
  17. club — for dancing
  18. bore — to drill
  19. tear — to rip
  20. straw — dry grass
  21. tear — from crying
  22. club — a group
  23. content — videos and posts
  24. cabinet — ministers

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