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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 124 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 hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  2. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  3. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  4. Have you found your soul ________________?
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  8. He works in a ________________ mill.
  9. She's very handy with a ________________.
  10. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  11. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  12. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  13. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  14. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  15. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  16. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  17. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  18. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  19. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  20. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  21. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  22. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  23. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  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. hand — part of the body
  2. craft — a skill
  3. pitch — completely
  4. mate — a partner
  5. clip — for paper
  6. clip — a video
  7. clip — to cut
  8. saw — the tool
  9. saw — the tool
  10. saw — past of 'see'
  11. capital — a big letter
  12. pitch — a sports field
  13. content — videos and posts
  14. craft — boats
  15. capital — a city
  16. content — happy
  17. hand — help
  18. craft — a handicraft
  19. mate — a friend
  20. capital — money
  21. mate — to breed
  22. hand — in cards
  23. pitch — a sales talk
  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