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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. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  2. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  3. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  6. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  7. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  8. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  9. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  10. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  13. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. The King held a masked ________________.
  16. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  17. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  18. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  19. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  20. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  21. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  22. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  23. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  24. He hit the ball with his ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. ball — a round shape
  2. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  3. kid — child
  4. cold — an illness
  5. field — a subject
  6. racket — a loud noise
  7. ball — a great time
  8. racket — for tennis
  9. content — happy
  10. jam — in traffic
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. jam — to spread on bread
  13. kick — a thrill
  14. cold — not warm
  15. ball — a dance
  16. content — videos and posts
  17. jam — a tight spot
  18. field — for sport
  19. kick — in football
  20. content — the amount
  21. kid — to tease
  22. field — farmland
  23. kick — with a leg
  24. racket — for tennis

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