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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 120 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. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  2. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  3. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  4. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  5. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  6. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  7. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  8. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  9. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  10. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  11. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  12. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  13. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  14. Have you met the new head ________________?
  15. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  16. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  17. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  18. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  19. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  20. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  21. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  22. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  23. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  24. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.

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

Answer key

  1. content — videos and posts
  2. can — a tin
  3. tear — from crying
  4. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  5. kid — child
  6. coach — a trainer
  7. bat — for baseball
  8. can — to be able to
  9. bat — the animal
  10. can — a tin
  11. wound — past of 'wind'
  12. content — the amount
  13. bat — in an idiom
  14. coach — a trainer
  15. wound — an injury
  16. net — for catching
  17. tear — from crying
  18. net — in sport
  19. wound — an injury
  20. net — after costs
  21. coach — pulled by horses
  22. tear — to rip
  23. content — happy
  24. kid — to tease

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