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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. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  3. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  4. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  5. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  6. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  7. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  8. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  9. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  10. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  11. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  12. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  13. There's no middle ________________.
  14. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  15. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  16. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  17. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  18. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  19. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  20. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  21. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  22. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  23. This piece is in a major ________________.
  24. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. kid — child
  3. kid — to tease
  4. deal — an agreement
  5. pass — a permit
  6. deal — to handle
  7. key — for a lock
  8. deal — a big deal
  9. content — the amount
  10. patient — calm and waiting
  11. ground — the earth
  12. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  13. ground — a position
  14. bark — of a tree
  15. patient — a sick person
  16. key — the most important part
  17. ground — crushed
  18. pass — to succeed
  19. bark — to shout
  20. bark — a dog's sound
  21. content — videos and posts
  22. patient — a sick person
  23. key — in music
  24. pass — to spend time

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