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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. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  2. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  3. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  4. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  5. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  6. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  7. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  8. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  11. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  12. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  13. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  14. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  15. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  16. When was this ________________ built?
  17. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  18. He works in a ________________ mill.
  19. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  20. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. She's very handy with a ________________.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. content — the amount
  2. craft — a handicraft
  3. temple — a place of worship
  4. present — there
  5. temple — side of the head
  6. saw — past of 'see'
  7. content — videos and posts
  8. present — a gift
  9. clip — to cut
  10. wind — moving air
  11. wind — moving air
  12. craft — a skill
  13. hand — in cards
  14. wind — to turn a key
  15. present — the time now
  16. temple — a place of worship
  17. craft — boats
  18. saw — the tool
  19. hand — help
  20. hand — part of the body
  21. clip — for paper
  22. saw — the tool
  23. clip — a video
  24. content — happy

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