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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. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  2. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  3. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  4. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  5. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  6. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  7. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  8. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  9. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  10. I'll be taking the ________________.
  11. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  12. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  13. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  14. She's very handy with a ________________.
  15. It's one o'clock ________________.
  16. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  17. He works in a ________________ mill.
  18. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  19. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  20. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  21. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  22. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  23. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  24. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.

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

Answer key

  1. content — the amount
  2. kid — to tease
  3. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  4. wind — to turn a key
  5. content — videos and posts
  6. tube — in a tire
  7. prune — the fruit
  8. content — happy
  9. wind — moving air
  10. tube — the underground
  11. prune — to trim
  12. rule — a law
  13. tube — a container
  14. saw — the tool
  15. sharp — exactly
  16. kid — child
  17. saw — the tool
  18. sharp — clever
  19. rule — to rule out
  20. sharp — with an edge
  21. saw — past of 'see'
  22. wind — moving air
  23. rule — government
  24. prune — to trim

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