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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. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  2. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  3. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  4. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  5. That was a fun ________________.
  6. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  7. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  8. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  9. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  10. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  11. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  12. There's no middle ________________.
  13. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  14. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  15. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  16. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  17. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  18. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  19. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  20. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  21. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  22. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  23. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  24. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  2. content — the amount
  3. object — to protest
  4. game — a kind of play
  5. game — a match
  6. content — videos and posts
  7. ground — crushed
  8. kid — child
  9. bear — the animal
  10. trunk — of an elephant
  11. trunk — of a tree
  12. ground — a position
  13. game — wild animals
  14. file — a tool
  15. file — a line of people
  16. kid — to tease
  17. ground — the earth
  18. bear — to put up with
  19. trunk — of a car
  20. object — a thing
  21. object — an aim
  22. bear — the animal
  23. file — a document
  24. content — happy

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