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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. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  2. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  3. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  4. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  5. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  6. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  7. The tickets are free of ________________.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  11. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  12. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  13. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  14. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  19. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  20. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  21. We're on a ________________ here.
  22. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  23. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  24. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.

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

Answer key

  1. content — the amount
  2. bank — of a river
  3. bank — for money
  4. roll — a cake
  5. race — humankind
  6. race — the arms race
  7. charge — a price
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. clip — to cut
  10. bank — for money
  11. clip — for paper
  12. content — happy
  13. wake — before a funeral
  14. wake — to stop sleeping
  15. cold — not warm
  16. cold — an illness
  17. clip — a video
  18. content — videos and posts
  19. race — a contest
  20. wake — a trail
  21. roll — on a roll
  22. charge — in control
  23. charge — electricity
  24. roll — a list

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