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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. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  5. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  6. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  7. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  8. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  9. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  10. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  11. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  12. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  13. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  14. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  15. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  16. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  17. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  18. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  19. How do you ________________ your surname?
  20. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  21. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  22. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  23. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  24. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. cap — a hat
  3. clip — for paper
  4. clip — a video
  5. cap — a lid
  6. spell — magic
  7. wound — past of 'wind'
  8. wake — before a funeral
  9. calf — a young animal
  10. pass — to succeed
  11. wake — a trail
  12. wound — an injury
  13. wound — an injury
  14. calf — of the leg
  15. spell — a short time
  16. content — the amount
  17. content — videos and posts
  18. calf — a young animal
  19. spell — letters
  20. cap — of ice
  21. wake — to stop sleeping
  22. pass — a permit
  23. pass — to spend time
  24. clip — to cut

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