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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 124 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. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  2. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  3. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  4. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  5. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  6. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  7. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  8. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  11. David sat on the ________________.
  12. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  13. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  14. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  15. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  16. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  19. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  20. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  21. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  22. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  23. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  24. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.

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

Answer key

  1. content — the amount
  2. vault — in gymnastics
  3. shower — a meteor shower
  4. kid — to tease
  5. swing — music
  6. clip — for paper
  7. content — videos and posts
  8. rule — government
  9. clip — to cut
  10. vault — a safe
  11. swing — to play on
  12. rule — to rule out
  13. content — happy
  14. chip — in a computer
  15. shower — rain
  16. vault — an arched ceiling
  17. clip — a video
  18. shower — to wash
  19. rule — a law
  20. chip — to eat
  21. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  22. chip — for betting
  23. kid — child
  24. swing — in golf

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