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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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Word bank
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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 muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  2. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  3. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  4. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  5. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  6. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  7. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  8. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  9. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  10. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  11. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  12. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  13. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  14. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  15. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  19. He was locked up in a ________________.
  20. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. When are we going to ________________?
  23. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  24. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.

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

Answer key

  1. track — a path
  2. kid — child
  3. deal — a big deal
  4. deal — an agreement
  5. land — ground
  6. cell — a phone
  7. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  8. content — the amount
  9. object — to protest
  10. cell — in biology
  11. kid — to tease
  12. content — videos and posts
  13. deal — to handle
  14. track — a song
  15. land — a country
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. cold — an illness
  18. track — to keep track
  19. cell — in a prison
  20. content — happy
  21. cold — not warm
  22. land — to come down
  23. object — an aim
  24. object — a thing

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