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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. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  2. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  3. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  4. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  5. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  6. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  7. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  8. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  11. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  12. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  13. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  14. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  15. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  16. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  17. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  18. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  19. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  20. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  21. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  22. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  23. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  24. Check the label for the sugar ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. jam — a tight spot
  2. clip — a video
  3. club — a group
  4. file — a document
  5. rule — government
  6. file — a line of people
  7. content — happy
  8. club — for golf
  9. clip — for paper
  10. rule — to rule out
  11. jam — to spread on bread
  12. jam — in traffic
  13. shower — a meteor shower
  14. shower — to wash
  15. club — for dancing
  16. clip — to cut
  17. shower — rain
  18. chest — a box
  19. rule — a law
  20. chest — of your body
  21. chest — of your body
  22. content — videos and posts
  23. file — a tool
  24. content — the amount

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