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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. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  2. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  3. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  4. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  5. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. David sat on the ________________.
  8. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  9. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  10. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  11. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  12. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  13. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  14. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. That was ________________ to happen.
  17. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  18. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  19. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  20. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  21. The ________________ took off on time.
  22. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  23. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  24. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — to cut
  2. content — the amount
  3. stick — to attach or keep to
  4. capital — money
  5. content — happy
  6. clip — a video
  7. swing — to play on
  8. capital — a big letter
  9. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  10. content — videos and posts
  11. capital — a city
  12. stick — a piece of wood
  13. bound — tied together
  14. plane — in geometry
  15. clip — for paper
  16. bound — certain
  17. bound — obliged
  18. kid — child
  19. swing — music
  20. swing — in golf
  21. plane — an aircraft
  22. stick — a piece of wood
  23. kid — to tease
  24. plane — a tool

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