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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. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  3. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  4. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  5. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  6. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  7. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  8. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  9. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  10. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  11. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  12. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  13. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  14. The light ________________ burned out.
  15. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  16. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  17. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  18. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  19. I've got to change the light ________________.
  20. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  21. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  22. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  23. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  24. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. dip — to dunk
  3. can — a tin
  4. hand — help
  5. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  6. wake — to stop sleeping
  7. wake — before a funeral
  8. can — a tin
  9. can — to be able to
  10. content — the amount
  11. dip — a sauce
  12. hand — in cards
  13. stick — a piece of wood
  14. bulb — for light
  15. stick — a piece of wood
  16. hand — part of the body
  17. kid — child
  18. content — videos and posts
  19. bulb — for light
  20. bulb — of a plant
  21. wake — a trail
  22. stick — to attach or keep to
  23. dip — to sink
  24. kid — to tease

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