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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. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  2. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  3. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  4. He was locked up in a ________________.
  5. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  6. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  7. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  8. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  9. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  10. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  11. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  12. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  13. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  14. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  15. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  16. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  17. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  18. That was a fun ________________.
  19. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  20. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  21. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  22. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  23. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  24. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.

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

Answer key

  1. content — videos and posts
  2. snap — to click
  3. content — happy
  4. cell — in a prison
  5. snap — to speak sharply
  6. object — a thing
  7. object — an aim
  8. face — to point toward
  9. tear — from crying
  10. game — a kind of play
  11. object — to protest
  12. snap — to snap out of it
  13. tear — from crying
  14. face — to confront
  15. squash — the vegetable
  16. cell — a phone
  17. squash — the sport
  18. game — a match
  19. face — part of the head
  20. squash — to crush
  21. content — the amount
  22. game — wild animals
  23. tear — to rip
  24. cell — in biology

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