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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. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  2. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  3. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  4. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  5. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  6. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  7. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  8. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  9. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  10. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  11. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  14. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  15. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  16. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  17. Have you met the new head ________________?
  18. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  19. He is an ace ________________.
  20. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  21. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  22. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  23. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  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. clip — to cut
  2. shower — rain
  3. shower — a meteor shower
  4. pitcher — a jug
  5. content — the amount
  6. bear — to put up with
  7. hand — in cards
  8. content — happy
  9. staff — a stick
  10. coach — a trainer
  11. hand — part of the body
  12. clip — a video
  13. bear — the animal
  14. hand — help
  15. pitcher — a jug
  16. shower — to wash
  17. coach — a trainer
  18. bear — the animal
  19. pitcher — in baseball
  20. staff — employees
  21. coach — pulled by horses
  22. content — videos and posts
  23. staff — employees
  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