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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 120 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 · wind · hide · chest · bore · kick · bat · track

  1. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  2. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  3. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  4. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  5. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  6. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  7. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  8. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  9. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  10. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  11. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  12. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  13. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  14. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  15. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  16. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  17. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  18. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  19. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  20. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  21. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  22. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  23. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  24. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.

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

Answer key

  1. bore — to tire
  2. kick — a thrill
  3. content — happy
  4. bore — to drill
  5. hide — to keep secret
  6. content — videos and posts
  7. kick — in football
  8. chest — a box
  9. hide — animal skin
  10. bat — in an idiom
  11. wind — to turn a key
  12. bore — gave birth
  13. track — to keep track
  14. kick — with a leg
  15. chest — of your body
  16. wind — moving air
  17. hide — to keep secret
  18. content — the amount
  19. bat — the animal
  20. wind — moving air
  21. chest — of your body
  22. track — a song
  23. bat — for baseball
  24. track — a path

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