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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. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  2. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  3. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  4. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  5. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  6. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  7. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  8. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  9. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  10. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  11. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  12. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  13. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  14. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  15. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  16. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  17. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  18. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  19. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  20. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  21. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  22. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  23. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  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 — child
  2. root — of a plant
  3. kid — to tease
  4. bear — to put up with
  5. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  6. rock — music
  7. hand — part of the body
  8. craft — a handicraft
  9. content — the amount
  10. shower — a meteor shower
  11. rock — to move gently
  12. root — the cause
  13. hand — help
  14. root — of a word
  15. shower — to wash
  16. craft — a skill
  17. content — happy
  18. rock — a stone
  19. shower — rain
  20. hand — in cards
  21. craft — boats
  22. bear — the animal
  23. bear — the animal
  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