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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 116 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. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  3. What do you think of the new ________________?
  4. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  5. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  6. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  7. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  8. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  9. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  10. She's very handy with a ________________.
  11. It's one o'clock ________________.
  12. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  13. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  14. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  15. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  16. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  17. The ________________ went through the wall.
  18. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  21. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  22. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  23. He works in a ________________ mill.
  24. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. content — happy
  3. cabinet — ministers
  4. trunk — of an elephant
  5. cabinet — a cupboard
  6. content — videos and posts
  7. nail — for a hammer
  8. sharp — with an edge
  9. vault — an arched ceiling
  10. saw — the tool
  11. sharp — exactly
  12. saw — past of 'see'
  13. content — the amount
  14. nail — on a finger
  15. trunk — of a car
  16. vault — a safe
  17. nail — for a hammer
  18. vault — in gymnastics
  19. clip — a video
  20. cabinet — ministers
  21. trunk — of a tree
  22. sharp — clever
  23. saw — the tool
  24. clip — to cut

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