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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. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  2. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  3. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  4. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  5. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  6. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  7. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  8. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  9. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  10. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  11. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  12. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  13. He was locked up in a ________________.
  14. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  15. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  16. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  17. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  18. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  19. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  20. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  21. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  22. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  23. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  24. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. current — happening now
  2. kick — with a leg
  3. deal — to handle
  4. kick — a thrill
  5. content — videos and posts
  6. tear — to rip
  7. cell — a phone
  8. scale — for weighing
  9. content — the amount
  10. deal — an agreement
  11. current — of water
  12. deal — a big deal
  13. cell — in a prison
  14. tear — from crying
  15. fall — to drop
  16. kick — in football
  17. scale — in music
  18. cell — in biology
  19. fall — to drop
  20. content — happy
  21. fall — the season
  22. tear — from crying
  23. current — electric
  24. scale — size or range

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