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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.

Make a worksheet

Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

Words on the sheet
468
Word bank
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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. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  2. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  3. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  4. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  5. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  6. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  7. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  8. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  9. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  10. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  11. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  12. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  13. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  14. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  15. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  16. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  17. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  18. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  19. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  20. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  21. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  22. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  23. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  24. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mouse — for a computer
  2. wave — of the sea
  3. mouse — the animal
  4. wave — a sudden rise
  5. cap — of ice
  6. content — happy
  7. scale — in music
  8. mouse — the animal
  9. wave — with your hand
  10. content — videos and posts
  11. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  12. file — a line of people
  13. straw — a straw man
  14. scale — for weighing
  15. file — a tool
  16. cap — a hat
  17. cap — a lid
  18. kid — to tease
  19. file — a document
  20. kid — child
  21. straw — to clutch at straws
  22. scale — size or range
  23. content — the amount
  24. straw — dry grass

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