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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. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  5. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  6. I'll be taking the ________________.
  7. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  10. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  11. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  12. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  13. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  14. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  15. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  16. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  17. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  18. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. The ________________ took off on time.
  21. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  22. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  23. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  24. Don't do anything ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. tube — a container
  3. clip — to cut
  4. content — videos and posts
  5. race — the arms race
  6. tube — the underground
  7. capital — a city
  8. clip — for paper
  9. calf — of the leg
  10. rash — on the skin
  11. plane — in geometry
  12. content — the amount
  13. capital — a big letter
  14. plane — a tool
  15. calf — a young animal
  16. capital — money
  17. race — a contest
  18. calf — a young animal
  19. clip — a video
  20. plane — an aircraft
  21. tube — in a tire
  22. race — humankind
  23. rash — a series
  24. rash — hasty

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