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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.

Words on the sheet
468
Word bank
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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: rash · pass · last · kid · content · pitch · hand · ball

  1. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  3. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  4. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  5. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  6. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  7. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  8. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  9. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  10. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  11. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  12. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  13. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  14. False peace will not ________________.
  15. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  16. The King held a masked ________________.
  17. Don't do anything ________________.
  18. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  19. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  20. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  21. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  22. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  23. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  24. Check the label for the sugar ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. kid — to tease
  3. hand — help
  4. pass — to spend time
  5. ball — a round shape
  6. pitch — a sports field
  7. last — final
  8. rash — on the skin
  9. pitch — a sales talk
  10. rash — a series
  11. pass — a permit
  12. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  13. pitch — completely
  14. last — to go on
  15. last — finally
  16. ball — a dance
  17. rash — hasty
  18. hand — in cards
  19. ball — a great time
  20. kid — child
  21. pass — to succeed
  22. content — videos and posts
  23. hand — part of the body
  24. content — the amount

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