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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: content · bear · straw · kid · squash · pitcher · rest · wound

  1. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  2. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  3. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  4. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  5. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  6. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  7. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  8. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  9. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  10. He is an ace ________________.
  11. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  12. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  13. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  14. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  15. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  16. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  17. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  18. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  19. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  20. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  21. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  22. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  23. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  24. This looks like a gunshot ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. bear — to put up with
  3. rest — a break
  4. wound — past of 'wind'
  5. bear — the animal
  6. straw — dry grass
  7. straw — a straw man
  8. kid — to tease
  9. wound — an injury
  10. pitcher — in baseball
  11. bear — the animal
  12. squash — the sport
  13. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  14. rest — what's left
  15. content — happy
  16. squash — the vegetable
  17. content — the amount
  18. kid — child
  19. squash — to crush
  20. content — videos and posts
  21. pitcher — a jug
  22. rest — what's left
  23. straw — to clutch at straws
  24. wound — an injury

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