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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. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  2. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  3. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  4. How do you ________________ your surname?
  5. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  6. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  7. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  8. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  9. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  10. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  11. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  12. Don't do anything ________________.
  13. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  14. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  15. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  16. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  17. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  18. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  19. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  20. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  21. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  22. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  23. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  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. content — the amount
  2. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  3. cap — a hat
  4. spell — letters
  5. vault — an arched ceiling
  6. wind — to turn a key
  7. cap — a lid
  8. content — happy
  9. pound — for dogs
  10. spell — magic
  11. kid — to tease
  12. rash — hasty
  13. rash — a series
  14. pound — a weight
  15. rash — on the skin
  16. spell — a short time
  17. wind — moving air
  18. vault — in gymnastics
  19. wind — moving air
  20. cap — of ice
  21. vault — a safe
  22. pound — to hit hard
  23. kid — child
  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