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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. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  3. She's very handy with a ________________.
  4. He works in a ________________ mill.
  5. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  6. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  7. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  8. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  9. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  10. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  11. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  12. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  13. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  14. Have you found your soul ________________?
  15. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  16. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  17. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  18. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  19. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  20. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  21. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  22. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  23. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  24. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. content — videos and posts
  3. saw — the tool
  4. saw — the tool
  5. race — the arms race
  6. kid — child
  7. pitch — completely
  8. pitch — a sports field
  9. bat — in an idiom
  10. content — the amount
  11. mate — to breed
  12. pitch — a sales talk
  13. mate — a friend
  14. mate — a partner
  15. race — a contest
  16. content — happy
  17. bat — for baseball
  18. calf — a young animal
  19. saw — past of 'see'
  20. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  21. race — humankind
  22. calf — of the leg
  23. bat — the animal
  24. calf — a young 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