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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. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  2. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  3. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  4. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  5. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  6. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  7. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  8. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  9. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  10. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  11. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  12. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  13. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  14. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  15. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  16. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  17. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  18. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  19. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  20. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  21. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  22. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  23. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  24. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — child
  2. march — the month
  3. present — a gift
  4. straw — to clutch at straws
  5. kid — to tease
  6. deal — an agreement
  7. march — the month
  8. spring — a coil
  9. content — the amount
  10. march — music
  11. spring — the season
  12. content — videos and posts
  13. straw — a straw man
  14. deal — to handle
  15. straw — dry grass
  16. lean — to rest against
  17. present — there
  18. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  19. lean — thin
  20. deal — a big deal
  21. spring — of water
  22. present — the time now
  23. lean — to bend
  24. content — happy

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