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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 had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  2. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  3. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  4. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  5. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  6. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  7. I'll be taking the ________________.
  8. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  9. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  10. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  11. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  12. When was this ________________ built?
  13. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  14. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  15. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  16. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  17. This piece is in a major ________________.
  18. Don't do anything ________________.
  19. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  20. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  21. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  22. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  23. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  24. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — child
  2. mine — belonging to me
  3. rash — on the skin
  4. content — happy
  5. rash — a series
  6. mine — for digging
  7. tube — the underground
  8. trunk — of an elephant
  9. temple — side of the head
  10. key — the most important part
  11. mine — an explosive
  12. temple — a place of worship
  13. kid — to tease
  14. tube — a container
  15. key — for a lock
  16. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  17. key — in music
  18. rash — hasty
  19. tube — in a tire
  20. temple — a place of worship
  21. content — the amount
  22. trunk — of a tree
  23. trunk — of a car
  24. content — videos and posts

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