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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. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  3. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  4. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  7. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  8. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  9. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  12. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  13. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  14. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  15. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  16. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  17. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  18. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  19. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  20. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  21. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  24. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. capital — money
  3. pit — a hole
  4. cue — a signal
  5. clip — to cut
  6. capital — a big letter
  7. branch — of a tree
  8. pit — a fruit stone
  9. content — videos and posts
  10. clip — for paper
  11. cue — a hint
  12. fine — a penalty
  13. branch — a division
  14. capital — a city
  15. branch — of a bank
  16. content — the amount
  17. pit — in a race
  18. kick — a thrill
  19. cue — for pool
  20. fine — high quality
  21. kick — with a leg
  22. clip — a video
  23. fine — all right
  24. kick — in football

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