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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 from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: track · pit · kid · hand · content · mouse · pound · kick

  1. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  3. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  4. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  5. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  6. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  7. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  8. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  9. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  10. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  11. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  12. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  13. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  14. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  15. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  16. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  17. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  18. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  19. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  20. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  21. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  22. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  23. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  24. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. mouse — for a computer
  3. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  4. hand — part of the body
  5. mouse — the animal
  6. pound — a weight
  7. track — a path
  8. pit — a fruit stone
  9. content — the amount
  10. kick — a thrill
  11. pit — in a race
  12. kid — child
  13. mouse — the animal
  14. track — to keep track
  15. track — a song
  16. content — videos and posts
  17. kick — with a leg
  18. pit — a hole
  19. pound — to hit hard
  20. content — happy
  21. hand — in cards
  22. pound — for dogs
  23. hand — help
  24. kick — in football

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