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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. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  2. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  3. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  6. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  7. Don't do anything ________________.
  8. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  9. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  10. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  11. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  12. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  15. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  20. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  21. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  22. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  23. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  24. ________________ games are popular in Germany.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — to cut
  2. rock — music
  3. rash — a series
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. content — the amount
  6. file — a line of people
  7. rash — hasty
  8. content — videos and posts
  9. rash — on the skin
  10. board — to get on
  11. clip — for paper
  12. bore — to tire
  13. clip — a video
  14. file — a document
  15. file — a tool
  16. cold — not warm
  17. rock — a stone
  18. cold — an illness
  19. content — happy
  20. board — a committee
  21. bore — gave birth
  22. rock — to move gently
  23. bore — to drill
  24. board — a flat piece

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