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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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468
Word bank
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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. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  3. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  4. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  5. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  6. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  9. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  10. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  11. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  12. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  13. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  14. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  15. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  16. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  17. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  18. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  19. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  20. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  21. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  22. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  23. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  24. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. content — the amount
  3. mouse — the animal
  4. clip — to cut
  5. wind — moving air
  6. stick — to attach or keep to
  7. clip — for paper
  8. pound — to hit hard
  9. mouse — the animal
  10. clip — a video
  11. can — a tin
  12. mouse — for a computer
  13. pound — for dogs
  14. wind — moving air
  15. pound — a weight
  16. can — to be able to
  17. stick — a piece of wood
  18. content — videos and posts
  19. chair — a professorship
  20. can — a tin
  21. chair — a leader
  22. wind — to turn a key
  23. stick — a piece of wood
  24. chair — to sit on

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