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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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  2. When are we going to ________________?
  3. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  4. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  5. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  6. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  7. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  8. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  9. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  10. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  11. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  12. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  13. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  14. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  15. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  16. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  17. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  18. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  19. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  20. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  21. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  22. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  23. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  24. This piece is in a major ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. object — to protest
  2. land — to come down
  3. dip — a sauce
  4. content — the amount
  5. object — an aim
  6. content — happy
  7. key — for a lock
  8. land — ground
  9. pit — in a race
  10. land — a country
  11. fall — to drop
  12. fall — the season
  13. net — after costs
  14. object — a thing
  15. dip — to dunk
  16. fall — to drop
  17. key — the most important part
  18. content — videos and posts
  19. pit — a fruit stone
  20. net — in sport
  21. pit — a hole
  22. dip — to sink
  23. net — for catching
  24. key — in music

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