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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. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  2. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  4. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  5. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  8. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  9. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  10. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  13. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  14. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  15. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  16. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  17. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  18. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  19. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  20. False peace will not ________________.
  21. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  22. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  23. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  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. can — a tin
  2. clip — for paper
  3. content — happy
  4. firm — a company
  5. row — a line
  6. clip — a video
  7. kid — child
  8. club — for golf
  9. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  10. can — a tin
  11. clip — to cut
  12. content — videos and posts
  13. firm — decided
  14. row — to paddle
  15. last — finally
  16. last — final
  17. firm — steady
  18. kid — to tease
  19. club — for dancing
  20. last — to go on
  21. row — a quarrel
  22. club — a group
  23. can — to be able to
  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