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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. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  2. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  3. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  4. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  5. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  6. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  7. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  8. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  9. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  10. He is an ace ________________.
  11. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  12. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  13. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  14. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  15. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  16. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  17. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  18. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  19. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  20. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  21. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  22. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  23. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  24. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.

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

Answer key

  1. can — a tin
  2. bowl — a dish
  3. bowl — a football final
  4. can — a tin
  5. can — to be able to
  6. content — the amount
  7. race — humankind
  8. fall — the season
  9. kid — child
  10. pitcher — in baseball
  11. pitcher — a jug
  12. content — videos and posts
  13. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  14. fall — to drop
  15. fall — to drop
  16. content — happy
  17. kid — to tease
  18. patient — a sick person
  19. race — a contest
  20. race — the arms race
  21. patient — a sick person
  22. patient — calm and waiting
  23. pitcher — a jug
  24. bowl — to roll

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