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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. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  3. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  4. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  5. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  6. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  7. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  8. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  9. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  10. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  11. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  12. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  13. The ________________ went through the wall.
  14. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  15. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  16. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  17. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  18. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  19. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  20. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  21. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  22. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  23. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  24. That was a fun ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. object — a thing
  3. hand — part of the body
  4. hand — in cards
  5. kid — to tease
  6. content — videos and posts
  7. hand — help
  8. object — an aim
  9. kid — child
  10. racket — for tennis
  11. game — a kind of play
  12. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  13. nail — for a hammer
  14. wind — moving air
  15. nail — for a hammer
  16. game — wild animals
  17. racket — for tennis
  18. wind — to turn a key
  19. nail — on a finger
  20. wind — moving air
  21. racket — a loud noise
  22. content — the amount
  23. object — to protest
  24. game — a match

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