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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 120 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. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  2. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  3. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  4. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  5. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  6. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  7. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  8. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  9. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  10. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  11. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  12. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  13. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  14. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  15. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  16. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  17. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  18. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  19. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  20. Have you found your soul ________________?
  21. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  22. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  23. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  24. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — to wash
  2. rest — what's left
  3. rest — what's left
  4. bat — in an idiom
  5. mate — to breed
  6. safe — out of danger
  7. foot — part of the body
  8. mate — a friend
  9. safe — a strongbox
  10. rest — a break
  11. content — the amount
  12. foot — a measure
  13. kid — child
  14. content — videos and posts
  15. bat — for baseball
  16. kid — to tease
  17. foot — the bottom
  18. shower — rain
  19. safe — out of danger
  20. mate — a partner
  21. shower — a meteor shower
  22. content — happy
  23. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  24. bat — the animal

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