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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. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  2. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  3. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  4. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  5. Have you settled on a ________________?
  6. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  7. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  8. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  9. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  10. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  11. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  12. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  13. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  14. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  15. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  16. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  17. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  18. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  19. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  20. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  21. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  22. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  23. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  24. Check the label for the sugar ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. object — to protest
  2. object — a thing
  3. dip — to dunk
  4. squash — the sport
  5. date — on the calendar
  6. wax — to grow
  7. dip — to sink
  8. content — videos and posts
  9. wax — in the ear
  10. date — the fruit
  11. trunk — of a car
  12. content — happy
  13. trunk — of an elephant
  14. squash — the vegetable
  15. date — on the calendar
  16. kid — child
  17. wax — for sculpting
  18. kid — to tease
  19. object — an aim
  20. dip — a sauce
  21. trunk — of a tree
  22. squash — to crush
  23. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  24. content — the amount

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