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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. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  3. This piece is in a major ________________.
  4. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  5. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  6. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  7. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  8. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  9. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  10. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  11. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  12. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  15. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  16. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  17. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  22. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  23. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  24. Hold the papers together with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. can — to be able to
  3. key — in music
  4. clip — a video
  5. content — happy
  6. can — a tin
  7. key — the most important part
  8. spring — a coil
  9. can — a tin
  10. spring — of water
  11. mouse — the animal
  12. key — for a lock
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. mouse — for a computer
  15. content — videos and posts
  16. mouse — the animal
  17. band — a rubber band
  18. cold — not warm
  19. content — the amount
  20. clip — to cut
  21. band — a music group
  22. band — a ring
  23. spring — the season
  24. clip — for paper

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