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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. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  3. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  4. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  5. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  6. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  7. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  8. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  9. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  10. That must've been a ________________.
  11. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  12. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  13. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  14. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  15. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  16. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  17. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  18. When will it ________________ you to start?
  19. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  20. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  21. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  22. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  23. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  24. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. content — happy
  3. kid — child
  4. net — in sport
  5. content — videos and posts
  6. wake — to stop sleeping
  7. net — after costs
  8. drill — the tool
  9. suit — in cards
  10. rush — a thrill
  11. rush — to hurry
  12. suit — clothes
  13. wind — to turn a key
  14. rush — hurry
  15. wind — moving air
  16. drill — army training
  17. wind — moving air
  18. suit — to fit
  19. drill — a practice
  20. wake — before a funeral
  21. wake — a trail
  22. content — the amount
  23. net — for catching
  24. kid — young goat (kid gloves)

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