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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 · cold · tube · kid · kick · band · ball · race

  1. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  2. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  3. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  4. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  5. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  6. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  7. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  8. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  9. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  10. I'll be taking the ________________.
  11. The King held a masked ________________.
  12. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  13. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  14. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  15. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  16. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  17. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  18. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  19. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. The kitten curled into a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. content — videos and posts
  2. tube — in a tire
  3. kick — in football
  4. content — happy
  5. race — humankind
  6. kick — with a leg
  7. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  8. kid — to tease
  9. band — a ring
  10. tube — the underground
  11. ball — a dance
  12. tube — a container
  13. race — a contest
  14. band — a music group
  15. kid — child
  16. kick — a thrill
  17. race — the arms race
  18. band — a rubber band
  19. ball — a great time
  20. cold — not warm
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. content — the amount
  23. cold — an illness
  24. ball — a round shape

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