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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. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  2. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  3. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  4. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  7. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  10. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  13. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  14. I'll be taking the ________________.
  15. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  16. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  17. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  18. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  19. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  20. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  21. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  22. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  23. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  24. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. content — videos and posts
  2. content — the amount
  3. shower — to wash
  4. wind — moving air
  5. clip — to cut
  6. race — a contest
  7. wind — moving air
  8. clip — for paper
  9. content — happy
  10. tube — a container
  11. clip — a video
  12. present — the time now
  13. tube — in a tire
  14. tube — the underground
  15. present — there
  16. safe — out of danger
  17. present — a gift
  18. shower — a meteor shower
  19. safe — a strongbox
  20. race — the arms race
  21. shower — rain
  22. wind — to turn a key
  23. safe — out of danger
  24. race — humankind

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