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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. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  3. Have you settled on a ________________?
  4. I'll be taking the ________________.
  5. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  6. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  7. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  8. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  9. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  10. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  11. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  12. Have you met the new head ________________?
  13. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  14. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  15. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  16. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  17. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  18. He is an ace ________________.
  19. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  20. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  21. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  22. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  23. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  24. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. kid — to tease
  3. date — on the calendar
  4. tube — the underground
  5. pitcher — a jug
  6. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  7. date — the fruit
  8. bore — gave birth
  9. bore — to tire
  10. tube — in a tire
  11. date — on the calendar
  12. coach — a trainer
  13. mouse — for a computer
  14. tube — a container
  15. kid — child
  16. content — the amount
  17. mouse — the animal
  18. pitcher — in baseball
  19. content — videos and posts
  20. coach — a trainer
  21. bore — to drill
  22. mouse — the animal
  23. pitcher — a jug
  24. coach — pulled by horses

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