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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. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  3. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  4. Don't do anything ________________.
  5. The King held a masked ________________.
  6. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  7. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  8. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  9. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  10. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  11. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  12. The tickets are free of ________________.
  13. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  14. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  15. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  16. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  17. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  18. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  19. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  20. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  21. False peace will not ________________.
  22. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  23. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  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. kid — to tease
  2. charge — electricity
  3. ball — a great time
  4. rash — hasty
  5. ball — a dance
  6. content — happy
  7. content — the amount
  8. race — a contest
  9. rock — music
  10. rock — a stone
  11. content — videos and posts
  12. charge — a price
  13. race — humankind
  14. last — final
  15. rock — to move gently
  16. kid — child
  17. ball — a round shape
  18. rash — a series
  19. charge — in control
  20. race — the arms race
  21. last — to go on
  22. last — finally
  23. rash — on the skin
  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