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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. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  3. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  4. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  5. Have you found your soul ________________?
  6. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  7. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  8. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  9. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  10. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  11. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  12. This piece is in a major ________________.
  13. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  14. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  15. I'll be taking the ________________.
  16. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  17. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  18. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  19. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  20. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  21. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  22. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  23. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  24. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. tube — a container
  3. mate — a friend
  4. key — for a lock
  5. mate — a partner
  6. bass — the instrument
  7. pitch — completely
  8. pitch — a sales talk
  9. squash — to crush
  10. kid — child
  11. mate — to breed
  12. key — in music
  13. squash — the sport
  14. kid — to tease
  15. tube — the underground
  16. content — videos and posts
  17. content — the amount
  18. pitch — a sports field
  19. key — the most important part
  20. squash — the vegetable
  21. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  22. bass — the fish
  23. tube — in a tire
  24. bass — low music

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