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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. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  2. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  3. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  4. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  7. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  8. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  9. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  10. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  11. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  12. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  13. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  14. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  15. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  16. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  20. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  21. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  22. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  23. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  24. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.

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

Answer key

  1. content — the amount
  2. chest — of your body
  3. fall — the season
  4. fall — to drop
  5. clip — to cut
  6. object — an aim
  7. chest — a box
  8. row — to paddle
  9. content — happy
  10. mouse — the animal
  11. mouse — the animal
  12. current — happening now
  13. mouse — for a computer
  14. current — of water
  15. content — videos and posts
  16. object — a thing
  17. clip — a video
  18. clip — for paper
  19. current — electric
  20. row — a line
  21. object — to protest
  22. row — a quarrel
  23. fall — to drop
  24. chest — of your body

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