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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 120 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. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  2. He is an ace ________________.
  3. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  4. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  5. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  6. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  7. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  8. The ball is in your ________________.
  9. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  10. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  11. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  12. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  13. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  14. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  15. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  16. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  17. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  18. The ________________ market has crashed.
  19. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  20. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  21. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  22. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  23. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  24. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — child
  2. pitcher — in baseball
  3. calf — of the leg
  4. stock — goods
  5. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  6. calf — a young animal
  7. content — videos and posts
  8. court — for sport
  9. content — the amount
  10. can — a tin
  11. can — to be able to
  12. kid — to tease
  13. can — a tin
  14. wind — to turn a key
  15. stock — a soup base
  16. pitcher — a jug
  17. content — happy
  18. stock — shares
  19. court — of law
  20. pitcher — a jug
  21. wind — moving air
  22. calf — a young animal
  23. wind — moving air
  24. court — of a king

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