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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. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  2. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  3. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  4. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  5. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  6. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  7. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  8. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  9. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  10. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  11. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  12. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  13. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  16. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  17. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  18. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  19. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  20. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  21. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  22. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  23. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  24. Hold the papers together with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wave — of the sea
  2. content — videos and posts
  3. trunk — of a car
  4. clip — a video
  5. trunk — of an elephant
  6. content — happy
  7. straw — dry grass
  8. content — the amount
  9. scale — for weighing
  10. chip — to eat
  11. squash — the sport
  12. scale — size or range
  13. chip — in a computer
  14. clip — to cut
  15. straw — a straw man
  16. squash — to crush
  17. squash — the vegetable
  18. wave — with your hand
  19. wave — a sudden rise
  20. scale — in music
  21. straw — to clutch at straws
  22. chip — for betting
  23. trunk — of a tree
  24. clip — for paper

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