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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. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  2. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  5. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  6. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  7. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  8. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  9. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  10. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  11. The ball is in your ________________.
  12. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  13. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  14. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  15. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  16. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  19. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  20. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  21. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  22. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  23. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  24. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — help
  2. clip — a video
  3. clip — for paper
  4. content — videos and posts
  5. court — of law
  6. march — the month
  7. can — to be able to
  8. can — a tin
  9. content — happy
  10. content — the amount
  11. court — for sport
  12. root — the cause
  13. pound — to hit hard
  14. root — of a plant
  15. root — of a word
  16. can — a tin
  17. clip — to cut
  18. hand — in cards
  19. pound — for dogs
  20. court — of a king
  21. pound — a weight
  22. march — the month
  23. hand — part of the body
  24. march — music

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