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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. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  2. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  3. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  4. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  7. How do you ________________ your surname?
  8. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  9. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  10. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  11. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  12. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  13. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  14. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  15. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  18. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  19. False peace will not ________________.
  20. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  21. I can't ________________ this cold.
  22. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  23. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  24. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.

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

Answer key

  1. stand — for spectators
  2. content — happy
  3. stand — on your feet
  4. spell — magic
  5. clip — to cut
  6. chair — a professorship
  7. spell — letters
  8. last — finally
  9. tear — to rip
  10. content — videos and posts
  11. clip — for paper
  12. tear — from crying
  13. snap — to speak sharply
  14. chair — a leader
  15. snap — to click
  16. clip — a video
  17. spell — a short time
  18. last — final
  19. last — to go on
  20. tear — from crying
  21. stand — to bear
  22. chair — to sit on
  23. content — the amount
  24. snap — to snap out of it

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