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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. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  2. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  3. How do you ________________ your surname?
  4. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  5. I've got to change the light ________________.
  6. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  7. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  8. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  9. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  10. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  11. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  12. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  13. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  14. The light ________________ burned out.
  15. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  16. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  17. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  18. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  19. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  20. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  21. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  22. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  23. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  24. Check the label for the sugar ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. content — videos and posts
  2. spell — magic
  3. spell — letters
  4. race — humankind
  5. bulb — for light
  6. race — the arms race
  7. kid — child
  8. content — happy
  9. spell — a short time
  10. hand — part of the body
  11. hand — help
  12. bulb — of a plant
  13. object — an aim
  14. bulb — for light
  15. wind — moving air
  16. race — a contest
  17. object — a thing
  18. wind — moving air
  19. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  20. kid — to tease
  21. wind — to turn a key
  22. hand — in cards
  23. object — to protest
  24. content — the amount

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