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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. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  2. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  3. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  4. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  5. He was locked up in a ________________.
  6. Did you ________________ the button?
  7. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  8. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  9. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  10. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  11. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  12. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  13. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  14. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  15. We're almost out of ________________.
  16. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  17. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  18. You don't need to ________________ round.
  19. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  20. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  21. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  22. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  23. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  24. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.

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

Answer key

  1. object — to protest
  2. pop — music
  3. content — happy
  4. object — an aim
  5. cell — in a prison
  6. press — to push
  7. bark — to shout
  8. wind — moving air
  9. cell — a phone
  10. kid — child
  11. content — the amount
  12. content — videos and posts
  13. wind — to turn a key
  14. object — a thing
  15. pop — soda
  16. cell — in biology
  17. bark — a dog's sound
  18. pop — to visit
  19. press — newspapers
  20. press — a publisher
  21. bark — of a tree
  22. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  23. kid — to tease
  24. wind — moving air

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