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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. The water is too ________________.
  2. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  8. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  9. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  10. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  11. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  12. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  15. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  16. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  17. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  19. I've got to change the light ________________.
  20. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  21. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  22. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  23. The light ________________ burned out.
  24. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. clip — for paper
  3. pit — a fruit stone
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. mouse — for a computer
  6. cold — an illness
  7. wake — before a funeral
  8. pit — a hole
  9. mouse — the animal
  10. wake — to stop sleeping
  11. bulb — of a plant
  12. content — the amount
  13. clip — a video
  14. pitch — a sports field
  15. pitch — a sales talk
  16. content — videos and posts
  17. content — happy
  18. clip — to cut
  19. bulb — for light
  20. pitch — completely
  21. wake — a trail
  22. pit — in a race
  23. bulb — for light
  24. mouse — the animal

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