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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 116 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. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  3. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  4. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  5. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  6. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  7. Have you met the new head ________________?
  8. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  9. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  10. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  11. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  12. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  13. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  14. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  15. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  16. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  17. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  18. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  19. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  20. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  21. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  22. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  23. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  24. I'll be taking the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. coach — a trainer
  3. band — a rubber band
  4. lie — an untruth
  5. coach — pulled by horses
  6. hand — part of the body
  7. coach — a trainer
  8. band — a ring
  9. lie — to recline
  10. content — videos and posts
  11. lie — an untruth
  12. kid — to tease
  13. prune — to trim
  14. content — the amount
  15. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  16. prune — to trim
  17. hand — help
  18. kid — child
  19. band — a music group
  20. prune — the fruit
  21. tube — a container
  22. tube — in a tire
  23. hand — in cards
  24. tube — the underground

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