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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. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  2. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  3. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  4. Have you found your soul ________________?
  5. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  6. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  7. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  8. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  9. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  10. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  11. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  12. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  13. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  14. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  15. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  16. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  17. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  18. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  19. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  20. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  21. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  22. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  23. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  24. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — to breed
  2. net — after costs
  3. stick — a piece of wood
  4. mate — a partner
  5. net — for catching
  6. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  7. bat — for baseball
  8. bore — to tire
  9. net — in sport
  10. bat — the animal
  11. kid — to tease
  12. band — a rubber band
  13. mate — a friend
  14. band — a ring
  15. content — happy
  16. kid — child
  17. content — videos and posts
  18. stick — a piece of wood
  19. bore — to drill
  20. stick — to attach or keep to
  21. bore — gave birth
  22. content — the amount
  23. band — a music group
  24. bat — in an idiom

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