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

Word bank: kid · content · leaves · stick · chest · game · squash · straw

  1. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  2. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  3. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  4. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  5. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  6. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  7. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  8. That was a fun ________________.
  9. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  10. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  11. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  12. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  13. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  14. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  15. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  16. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  17. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  18. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  19. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  20. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  21. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  22. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  23. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  24. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — child
  2. content — happy
  3. content — the amount
  4. game — wild animals
  5. chest — of your body
  6. content — videos and posts
  7. chest — of your body
  8. game — a match
  9. straw — dry grass
  10. leaves — lets stay
  11. stick — a piece of wood
  12. stick — to attach or keep to
  13. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  14. chest — a box
  15. leaves — to go away
  16. squash — to crush
  17. leaves — of a tree
  18. straw — to clutch at straws
  19. squash — the vegetable
  20. stick — a piece of wood
  21. kid — to tease
  22. game — a kind of play
  23. squash — the sport
  24. straw — a straw man

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