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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 120 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. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  3. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  4. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  5. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  6. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  7. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  8. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  9. It's one o'clock ________________.
  10. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  11. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  12. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  13. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  14. I'll be taking the ________________.
  15. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  16. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  17. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  18. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  19. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  20. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  21. When are we going to ________________?
  22. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  23. That was ________________ to happen.
  24. We are ________________ to obey laws.

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

Answer key

  1. object — to protest
  2. chest — of your body
  3. current — of water
  4. land — a country
  5. chest — of your body
  6. prune — to trim
  7. prune — to trim
  8. sharp — clever
  9. sharp — exactly
  10. tube — a container
  11. object — an aim
  12. land — ground
  13. object — a thing
  14. tube — the underground
  15. sharp — with an edge
  16. chest — a box
  17. tube — in a tire
  18. prune — the fruit
  19. current — happening now
  20. current — electric
  21. land — to come down
  22. bound — tied together
  23. bound — certain
  24. bound — obliged

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