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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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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. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  2. That must've been a ________________.
  3. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  4. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  5. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  6. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  7. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  8. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  11. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  12. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  13. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  14. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  15. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  16. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  17. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  18. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  19. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  20. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. Don't do anything ________________.
  23. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  24. Take your time. There's no ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rest — a break
  2. rush — a thrill
  3. rest — what's left
  4. content — happy
  5. rush — to hurry
  6. object — a thing
  7. rest — what's left
  8. row — to paddle
  9. clip — for paper
  10. rash — on the skin
  11. shower — a meteor shower
  12. row — a quarrel
  13. content — the amount
  14. object — to protest
  15. shower — rain
  16. clip — to cut
  17. content — videos and posts
  18. rash — a series
  19. row — a line
  20. shower — to wash
  21. clip — a video
  22. rash — hasty
  23. object — an aim
  24. rush — hurry

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