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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: content · bat · stock · race · kid · suit · cold · squash

  1. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  2. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  3. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  4. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  5. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  6. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  7. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  8. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  9. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  10. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  11. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  12. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  15. The ________________ market has crashed.
  16. When will it ________________ you to start?
  17. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  18. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  19. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  20. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. I'd like to play a game of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. content — videos and posts
  2. race — the arms race
  3. bat — for baseball
  4. squash — to crush
  5. kid — child
  6. kid — to tease
  7. race — a contest
  8. content — the amount
  9. suit — clothes
  10. bat — in an idiom
  11. squash — the vegetable
  12. suit — in cards
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. content — happy
  15. stock — shares
  16. suit — to fit
  17. stock — a soup base
  18. bat — the animal
  19. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  20. stock — goods
  21. cold — an illness
  22. race — humankind
  23. cold — not warm
  24. squash — the sport

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