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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. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  2. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  3. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  4. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  5. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  6. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  7. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  8. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  9. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  10. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  11. I'll be taking the ________________.
  12. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  13. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  14. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  15. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  16. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  17. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  18. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  19. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  20. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  21. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  22. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  23. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  24. When was this ________________ built?

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

Answer key

  1. content — videos and posts
  2. content — happy
  3. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  4. root — the cause
  5. temple — a place of worship
  6. hand — help
  7. content — the amount
  8. fan — to cool the air
  9. tube — in a tire
  10. pound — a weight
  11. tube — the underground
  12. fan — a supporter
  13. kid — child
  14. pound — to hit hard
  15. fan — a supporter
  16. root — of a plant
  17. root — of a word
  18. temple — side of the head
  19. pound — for dogs
  20. tube — a container
  21. kid — to tease
  22. hand — in cards
  23. hand — part of the body
  24. temple — a place of worship

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