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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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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: calf · game · content · racket · pass · kid · face · row

  1. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  3. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  4. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  5. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  6. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  7. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  8. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  9. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  10. That was a fun ________________.
  11. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  12. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  13. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  14. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  15. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  16. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  17. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  18. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  19. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  20. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  21. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  22. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  23. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  24. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. row — a quarrel
  3. racket — for tennis
  4. pass — to succeed
  5. game — wild animals
  6. row — a line
  7. face — to confront
  8. pass — to spend time
  9. face — to point toward
  10. game — a match
  11. face — part of the head
  12. kid — to tease
  13. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  14. content — the amount
  15. calf — of the leg
  16. game — a kind of play
  17. calf — a young animal
  18. racket — a loud noise
  19. content — videos and posts
  20. kid — child
  21. calf — a young animal
  22. pass — a permit
  23. row — to paddle
  24. racket — for tennis

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