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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. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  2. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  3. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  4. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  5. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  8. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  9. It's one o'clock ________________.
  10. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  11. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  12. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  13. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  14. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  15. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  16. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  17. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  18. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  19. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  20. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  21. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  22. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  23. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  24. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — part of the body
  2. toast — bread
  3. content — videos and posts
  4. wind — moving air
  5. wake — to stop sleeping
  6. clip — a video
  7. toast — a drink to someone
  8. wake — before a funeral
  9. sharp — exactly
  10. toast — the most admired
  11. wind — to turn a key
  12. clip — for paper
  13. sharp — with an edge
  14. wind — moving air
  15. stem — of a plant
  16. hand — help
  17. stem — to come from
  18. content — the amount
  19. content — happy
  20. wake — a trail
  21. hand — in cards
  22. clip — to cut
  23. sharp — clever
  24. stem — a stem cell

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