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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. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  2. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  3. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  4. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  5. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  6. The ball is in your ________________.
  7. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  12. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  13. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  14. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  15. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  16. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  17. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  18. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  19. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  20. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  21. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  22. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  23. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  24. Check the label for the sugar ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. content — videos and posts
  2. kid — to tease
  3. branch — a division
  4. clip — a video
  5. deal — an agreement
  6. court — for sport
  7. ruler — for measuring
  8. clip — for paper
  9. ruler — for measuring
  10. clip — to cut
  11. deal — a big deal
  12. court — of a king
  13. hand — part of the body
  14. hand — help
  15. branch — of a tree
  16. kid — child
  17. deal — to handle
  18. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  19. hand — in cards
  20. court — of law
  21. branch — of a bank
  22. ruler — a monarch
  23. content — happy
  24. content — the amount

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