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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. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  2. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  3. The light ________________ burned out.
  4. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  5. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  6. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  7. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  8. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  9. He is an ace ________________.
  10. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  11. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  12. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  13. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  14. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  15. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  16. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  17. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  18. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  19. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  20. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  21. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  22. There's no middle ________________.
  23. I've got to change the light ________________.
  24. Have you settled on a ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. date — on the calendar
  3. bulb — for light
  4. content — the amount
  5. ground — crushed
  6. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  7. straw — dry grass
  8. date — the fruit
  9. pitcher — in baseball
  10. straw — a straw man
  11. pitcher — a jug
  12. file — a line of people
  13. file — a tool
  14. content — videos and posts
  15. content — happy
  16. ground — the earth
  17. straw — to clutch at straws
  18. kid — to tease
  19. bulb — of a plant
  20. file — a document
  21. kid — child
  22. ground — a position
  23. bulb — for light
  24. date — on the calendar

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