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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. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  2. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  5. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  6. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  7. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  8. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  9. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  10. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  11. The ________________ went through the wall.
  12. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  15. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  16. When are we going to ________________?
  17. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  18. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  19. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  20. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  21. Have you settled on a ________________?
  22. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  23. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. mouse — for a computer
  2. mouse — the animal
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. kid — to tease
  5. kid — child
  6. craft — a handicraft
  7. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  8. content — happy
  9. date — the fruit
  10. nail — for a hammer
  11. nail — for a hammer
  12. mouse — the animal
  13. cold — not warm
  14. content — videos and posts
  15. nail — on a finger
  16. land — to come down
  17. land — ground
  18. craft — a skill
  19. content — the amount
  20. date — on the calendar
  21. date — on the calendar
  22. land — a country
  23. craft — boats
  24. cold — an illness

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