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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 party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  2. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  3. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  4. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  5. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  6. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  7. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  8. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  11. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  12. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  13. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  16. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  19. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  20. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  21. Don't do anything ________________.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  24. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.

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

Answer key

  1. rash — a series
  2. rash — on the skin
  3. content — videos and posts
  4. straw — to clutch at straws
  5. kick — in football
  6. content — happy
  7. craft — boats
  8. craft — a handicraft
  9. cold — an illness
  10. straw — dry grass
  11. fine — high quality
  12. clip — for paper
  13. fine — a penalty
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. kick — a thrill
  16. content — the amount
  17. clip — a video
  18. clip — to cut
  19. fine — all right
  20. kick — with a leg
  21. rash — hasty
  22. cold — not warm
  23. straw — a straw man
  24. craft — a skill

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