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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. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  3. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  4. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  5. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  6. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  7. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  8. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  9. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  10. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  11. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  12. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  13. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  14. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  15. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  16. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  17. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  18. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  19. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  20. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  21. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  22. David sat on the ________________.
  23. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  24. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  3. mark — a trace
  4. hand — help
  5. swing — in golf
  6. hand — in cards
  7. dip — to dunk
  8. mark — a grade
  9. dip — to sink
  10. mark — to pay attention
  11. content — happy
  12. shower — rain
  13. content — the amount
  14. pitch — a sports field
  15. shower — to wash
  16. swing — music
  17. content — videos and posts
  18. kid — child
  19. pitch — completely
  20. shower — a meteor shower
  21. pitch — a sales talk
  22. swing — to play on
  23. hand — part of the body
  24. dip — a sauce

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