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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. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  2. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  3. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  4. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  5. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  8. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  9. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  10. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  11. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  12. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  13. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  14. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  15. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  16. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  17. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  18. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  19. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  20. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  21. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  22. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  23. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  24. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. drill — the tool
  2. content — happy
  3. chip — to eat
  4. drill — a practice
  5. perch — for a bird
  6. clip — a video
  7. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  8. clip — to cut
  9. rock — music
  10. perch — for a bird
  11. rock — to move gently
  12. content — videos and posts
  13. chip — for betting
  14. clip — for paper
  15. mark — a grade
  16. mark — to pay attention
  17. content — the amount
  18. perch — the fish
  19. chip — in a computer
  20. drill — army training
  21. mark — a trace
  22. rock — a stone
  23. kid — to tease
  24. kid — child

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