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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. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  2. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  3. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  4. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  5. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  6. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  7. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  8. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  9. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  10. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  11. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  12. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  13. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  14. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  15. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  16. That was a fun ________________.
  17. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  18. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  19. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  20. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  21. He works in a ________________ mill.
  22. She's very handy with a ________________.
  23. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  24. He was blown up by a land ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. dip — to sink
  2. dip — a sauce
  3. saw — past of 'see'
  4. wound — an injury
  5. mine — for digging
  6. content — happy
  7. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  8. current — electric
  9. current — of water
  10. content — videos and posts
  11. content — the amount
  12. kid — to tease
  13. wound — an injury
  14. current — happening now
  15. dip — to dunk
  16. game — a match
  17. kid — child
  18. game — a kind of play
  19. game — wild animals
  20. mine — belonging to me
  21. saw — the tool
  22. saw — the tool
  23. wound — past of 'wind'
  24. mine — an explosive

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