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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. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  2. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  3. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  4. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  5. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  6. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  7. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  8. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  9. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  10. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  11. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  12. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  13. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  17. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  18. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  19. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  20. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  23. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  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. mine — for digging
  2. wake — to stop sleeping
  3. content — videos and posts
  4. fan — a supporter
  5. foot — part of the body
  6. wake — before a funeral
  7. mine — an explosive
  8. fan — to cool the air
  9. cue — for pool
  10. fan — a supporter
  11. cue — a hint
  12. content — happy
  13. chest — a box
  14. clip — to cut
  15. clip — for paper
  16. foot — the bottom
  17. cue — a signal
  18. chest — of your body
  19. wake — a trail
  20. foot — a measure
  21. clip — a video
  22. chest — of your body
  23. mine — belonging to me
  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