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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: stand · chest · date · kid · calf · rest · pitcher · content

  1. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  2. He is an ace ________________.
  3. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  4. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  5. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  6. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  7. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  8. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  9. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  10. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  11. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  12. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  13. I can't ________________ this cold.
  14. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  15. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  16. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  17. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  18. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  19. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  20. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  21. Have you settled on a ________________?
  22. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  23. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  24. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. pitcher — in baseball
  3. chest — of your body
  4. date — the fruit
  5. calf — a young animal
  6. pitcher — a jug
  7. stand — on your feet
  8. kid — to tease
  9. rest — a break
  10. content — videos and posts
  11. content — happy
  12. stand — for spectators
  13. stand — to bear
  14. rest — what's left
  15. date — on the calendar
  16. calf — of the leg
  17. kid — child
  18. content — the amount
  19. rest — what's left
  20. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  21. date — on the calendar
  22. chest — a box
  23. chest — of your body
  24. calf — a young animal

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