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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 116 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. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  2. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  3. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  4. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  5. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  6. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  7. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  8. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  9. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  10. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  11. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  12. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  13. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  14. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  15. That was a fun ________________.
  16. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  17. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  18. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  19. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  20. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  21. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  22. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  23. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  24. The flowers bloom in the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rule — to rule out
  2. wind — moving air
  3. kid — child
  4. content — videos and posts
  5. content — happy
  6. wind — to turn a key
  7. spring — a coil
  8. rule — government
  9. kid — to tease
  10. prune — the fruit
  11. bowl — to roll
  12. content — the amount
  13. game — a kind of play
  14. game — wild animals
  15. game — a match
  16. wind — moving air
  17. bowl — a dish
  18. prune — to trim
  19. bowl — a football final
  20. spring — of water
  21. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  22. prune — to trim
  23. rule — a law
  24. spring — the season

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