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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. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  2. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  3. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  4. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  5. False peace will not ________________.
  6. There's no middle ________________.
  7. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  8. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  9. He works in a ________________ mill.
  10. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  11. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  12. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  13. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  14. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  15. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  16. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  17. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  18. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  19. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  20. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  21. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  22. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  23. I can't ________________ this cold.
  24. She's very handy with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. saw — past of 'see'
  2. content — happy
  3. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  4. last — finally
  5. last — to go on
  6. ground — a position
  7. bear — to put up with
  8. stand — on your feet
  9. saw — the tool
  10. band — a music group
  11. ground — crushed
  12. kid — child
  13. kid — to tease
  14. stand — for spectators
  15. content — the amount
  16. band — a ring
  17. last — final
  18. band — a rubber band
  19. content — videos and posts
  20. bear — the animal
  21. bear — the animal
  22. ground — the earth
  23. stand — to bear
  24. saw — the tool

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