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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 116 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. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  2. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  3. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  4. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  7. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  8. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  9. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  10. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  11. It's one o'clock ________________.
  12. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  13. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  14. The ________________ took off on time.
  15. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  16. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  17. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  18. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  19. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  20. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  21. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  22. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  23. He was locked up in a ________________.
  24. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.

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

Answer key

  1. content — the amount
  2. sharp — clever
  3. net — in sport
  4. net — after costs
  5. clip — a video
  6. cell — in biology
  7. sharp — with an edge
  8. bore — gave birth
  9. content — happy
  10. cell — a phone
  11. sharp — exactly
  12. clip — for paper
  13. band — a rubber band
  14. plane — an aircraft
  15. bore — to drill
  16. net — for catching
  17. bore — to tire
  18. plane — in geometry
  19. plane — a tool
  20. band — a ring
  21. band — a music group
  22. content — videos and posts
  23. cell — in a prison
  24. clip — to cut

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