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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. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  2. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  3. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  4. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  5. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  6. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  7. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  8. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  9. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  10. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  11. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  12. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  13. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  14. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  15. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  16. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  17. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  18. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  19. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  20. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  21. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  22. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  23. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  24. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. can — to be able to
  2. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  3. content — videos and posts
  4. pit — a hole
  5. shower — to wash
  6. kid — to tease
  7. can — a tin
  8. rule — a law
  9. can — a tin
  10. club — for dancing
  11. shower — rain
  12. row — to paddle
  13. pit — a fruit stone
  14. content — happy
  15. pit — in a race
  16. rule — to rule out
  17. rule — government
  18. kid — child
  19. row — a line
  20. club — a group
  21. row — a quarrel
  22. content — the amount
  23. club — for golf
  24. shower — a meteor shower

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