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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. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  2. My father caught me by the ________________.
  3. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  4. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  7. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  8. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  9. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  12. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  13. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  14. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. Where did you ________________ them?
  17. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  18. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  19. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  20. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  21. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  22. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  23. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  24. I got dealt a bad ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mug — a face
  2. arm — part of the body
  3. content — videos and posts
  4. object — a thing
  5. clip — for paper
  6. content — the amount
  7. hand — help
  8. chest — a box
  9. content — happy
  10. clip — to cut
  11. pass — to succeed
  12. object — to protest
  13. hand — part of the body
  14. pass — a permit
  15. clip — a video
  16. mug — to rob
  17. object — an aim
  18. arm — part of the body
  19. chest — of your body
  20. mug — a cup
  21. arm — a part of something
  22. chest — of your body
  23. pass — to spend time
  24. hand — in cards

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