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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: drill · straw · arm · cap · content · kid · snap · chip

  1. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  2. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  3. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  4. My father caught me by the ________________.
  5. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  6. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  7. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  8. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  9. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  10. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  11. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  12. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  13. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  14. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  15. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  16. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  17. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  18. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  19. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  20. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  21. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  22. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  23. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  24. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.

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

Answer key

  1. content — the amount
  2. kid — child
  3. snap — to snap out of it
  4. arm — part of the body
  5. content — videos and posts
  6. straw — a straw man
  7. content — happy
  8. drill — a practice
  9. drill — army training
  10. kid — to tease
  11. cap — of ice
  12. snap — to click
  13. drill — the tool
  14. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  15. straw — to clutch at straws
  16. straw — dry grass
  17. snap — to speak sharply
  18. cap — a hat
  19. cap — a lid
  20. chip — to eat
  21. chip — for betting
  22. chip — in a computer
  23. arm — part of the body
  24. arm — a part of something

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