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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. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  2. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  3. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  4. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  5. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  6. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  7. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  8. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  9. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  10. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  11. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  12. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  13. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  14. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  15. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  16. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  17. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  18. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  19. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  20. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  21. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  22. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  23. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  24. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — child
  2. content — happy
  3. pitch — a sales talk
  4. bowl — a football final
  5. content — videos and posts
  6. net — after costs
  7. bowl — to roll
  8. pitch — a sports field
  9. shower — a meteor shower
  10. content — the amount
  11. bark — a dog's sound
  12. bowl — a dish
  13. bark — to shout
  14. shower — rain
  15. net — for catching
  16. shower — to wash
  17. pitch — completely
  18. snap — to click
  19. bark — of a tree
  20. snap — to speak sharply
  21. net — in sport
  22. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  23. kid — to tease
  24. snap — to snap out of it

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