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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. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  2. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  3. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  4. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  5. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  6. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  7. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  8. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  9. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  10. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  11. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  12. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  13. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  14. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  15. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  16. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  17. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  18. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  19. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  20. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  21. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  22. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  23. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  24. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.

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

Answer key

  1. club — a group
  2. kid — to tease
  3. calf — of the leg
  4. straw — to clutch at straws
  5. scale — for weighing
  6. object — an aim
  7. content — the amount
  8. object — to protest
  9. kid — child
  10. club — for dancing
  11. straw — dry grass
  12. straw — a straw man
  13. content — videos and posts
  14. bat — in an idiom
  15. object — a thing
  16. bat — for baseball
  17. club — for golf
  18. calf — a young animal
  19. content — happy
  20. calf — a young animal
  21. scale — size or range
  22. scale — in music
  23. bat — the animal
  24. kid — young goat (kid gloves)

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