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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 120 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. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  3. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  4. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  5. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  6. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  7. How do you ________________ your surname?
  8. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  9. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  10. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  11. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  12. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  13. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  14. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  15. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  16. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  17. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  18. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  19. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  22. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  23. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  24. The train ________________ at six o'clock.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. band — a music group
  3. chair — to sit on
  4. scale — size or range
  5. band — a rubber band
  6. vault — a safe
  7. spell — letters
  8. chair — a professorship
  9. leaves — lets stay
  10. band — a ring
  11. spell — a short time
  12. spell — magic
  13. scale — in music
  14. vault — an arched ceiling
  15. scale — for weighing
  16. content — the amount
  17. vault — in gymnastics
  18. clip — a video
  19. content — videos and posts
  20. clip — to cut
  21. leaves — of a tree
  22. chair — a leader
  23. clip — for paper
  24. leaves — to go away

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