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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: tear · wind · root · pit · mouse · content · kid · dip

  1. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  2. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  3. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  4. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  5. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  6. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  7. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  8. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  9. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  10. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  11. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  12. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  13. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  14. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  15. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  16. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  17. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  18. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  19. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  20. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  21. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  22. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  23. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  24. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.

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

Answer key

  1. mouse — the animal
  2. kid — child
  3. mouse — for a computer
  4. content — happy
  5. dip — to sink
  6. content — the amount
  7. kid — to tease
  8. dip — a sauce
  9. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  10. pit — in a race
  11. tear — from crying
  12. mouse — the animal
  13. tear — to rip
  14. wind — moving air
  15. content — videos and posts
  16. root — of a plant
  17. dip — to dunk
  18. root — the cause
  19. pit — a fruit stone
  20. root — of a word
  21. wind — moving air
  22. tear — from crying
  23. pit — a hole
  24. wind — to turn a key

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