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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 120 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. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  3. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  4. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  5. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  6. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  7. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  8. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  9. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  10. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  11. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  12. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  13. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  14. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  15. That was a fun ________________.
  16. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  17. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  18. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  19. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  20. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  21. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  22. How do you ________________ your surname?
  23. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  24. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.

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

Answer key

  1. object — to protest
  2. can — to be able to
  3. kid — to tease
  4. content — videos and posts
  5. row — a line
  6. row — a quarrel
  7. kid — child
  8. spell — a short time
  9. content — the amount
  10. content — happy
  11. can — a tin
  12. wake — a trail
  13. game — wild animals
  14. object — a thing
  15. game — a match
  16. spell — magic
  17. row — to paddle
  18. game — a kind of play
  19. can — a tin
  20. wake — to stop sleeping
  21. object — an aim
  22. spell — letters
  23. wake — before a funeral
  24. kid — young goat (kid gloves)

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