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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. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  3. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  4. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  5. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  6. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  7. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  8. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  9. That was ________________ to happen.
  10. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  11. He is an ace ________________.
  12. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  13. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  14. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  15. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  16. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  17. It's one o'clock ________________.
  18. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  19. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  20. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  21. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  22. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  23. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  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. content — happy
  2. bound — tied together
  3. mark — to pay attention
  4. pitcher — a jug
  5. pitcher — a jug
  6. kid — child
  7. content — videos and posts
  8. sharp — clever
  9. bound — certain
  10. band — a rubber band
  11. pitcher — in baseball
  12. band — a ring
  13. straw — to clutch at straws
  14. bound — obliged
  15. band — a music group
  16. mark — a grade
  17. sharp — exactly
  18. kid — to tease
  19. mark — a trace
  20. straw — a straw man
  21. content — the amount
  22. sharp — with an edge
  23. straw — dry grass
  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