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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: snap · content · present · mine · drill · kid · mark · wind

  1. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  2. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  3. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  4. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  5. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  6. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  7. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  8. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  9. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  10. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  11. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  12. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  13. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  14. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  15. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  16. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  17. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  18. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  19. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  20. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  21. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  22. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  23. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  24. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. content — the amount
  3. mark — a trace
  4. mine — for digging
  5. content — videos and posts
  6. mine — belonging to me
  7. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  8. present — a gift
  9. content — happy
  10. snap — to click
  11. kid — child
  12. present — the time now
  13. mine — an explosive
  14. wind — to turn a key
  15. present — there
  16. mark — to pay attention
  17. drill — a practice
  18. snap — to speak sharply
  19. kid — to tease
  20. snap — to snap out of it
  21. drill — army training
  22. drill — the tool
  23. mark — a grade
  24. wind — moving air

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