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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. The ________________ went through the wall.
  2. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  3. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  4. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  5. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  6. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  7. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  8. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  9. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  10. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  11. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  14. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  15. We're almost out of ________________.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  18. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  19. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  20. You don't need to ________________ round.
  21. That was a fun ________________.
  22. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  23. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. nail — for a hammer
  2. wind — to turn a key
  3. hand — part of the body
  4. hand — in cards
  5. content — videos and posts
  6. ruler — a monarch
  7. ruler — for measuring
  8. game — wild animals
  9. nail — for a hammer
  10. hand — help
  11. content — the amount
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. wind — moving air
  14. game — a kind of play
  15. pop — soda
  16. cold — not warm
  17. pop — music
  18. nail — on a finger
  19. ruler — for measuring
  20. pop — to visit
  21. game — a match
  22. wind — moving air
  23. content — happy
  24. cold — an illness

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