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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. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  2. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  3. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  4. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  7. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  8. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  9. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  10. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  11. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  12. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  15. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  16. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  17. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  18. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  19. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  20. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  21. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  22. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  23. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  24. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — to turn a key
  2. row — a quarrel
  3. wind — moving air
  4. mark — to pay attention
  5. clip — for paper
  6. dip — to dunk
  7. deal — to handle
  8. deal — an agreement
  9. deal — a big deal
  10. content — videos and posts
  11. wind — moving air
  12. mark — a grade
  13. clip — a video
  14. face — part of the head
  15. row — to paddle
  16. clip — to cut
  17. row — a line
  18. dip — to sink
  19. content — happy
  20. dip — a sauce
  21. content — the amount
  22. mark — a trace
  23. face — to confront
  24. face — to point toward

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