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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: kid · perch · cold · bear · chest · content · mug · squash

  1. The water is too ________________.
  2. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  5. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  6. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  7. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  8. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  9. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  12. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  13. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  14. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  15. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  16. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  17. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  18. Where did you ________________ them?
  19. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  20. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  21. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  22. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  23. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  24. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  3. cold — an illness
  4. perch — for a bird
  5. kid — child
  6. kid — to tease
  7. mug — a face
  8. content — the amount
  9. squash — to crush
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. bear — the animal
  12. content — videos and posts
  13. squash — the vegetable
  14. chest — of your body
  15. bear — the animal
  16. content — happy
  17. bear — to put up with
  18. mug — to rob
  19. chest — a box
  20. perch — for a bird
  21. squash — the sport
  22. chest — of your body
  23. mug — a cup
  24. perch — the fish

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