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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 124 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. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  2. We're almost out of ________________.
  3. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  4. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  5. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  6. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  7. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  8. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  9. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  10. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  11. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  12. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  13. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  14. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  15. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  16. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  17. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  18. There's no middle ________________.
  19. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  20. You don't need to ________________ round.
  21. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  22. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  23. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  24. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. object — an aim
  2. pop — soda
  3. fall — to drop
  4. object — to protest
  5. row — a line
  6. content — the amount
  7. row — to paddle
  8. ground — crushed
  9. wound — an injury
  10. fall — the season
  11. branch — a division
  12. branch — of a tree
  13. wound — an injury
  14. object — a thing
  15. branch — of a bank
  16. wound — past of 'wind'
  17. content — happy
  18. ground — a position
  19. ground — the earth
  20. pop — to visit
  21. fall — to drop
  22. row — a quarrel
  23. pop — music
  24. content — videos and posts

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