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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. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  2. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  5. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  6. The ________________ went through the wall.
  7. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  8. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  9. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  10. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  11. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  12. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  13. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  14. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  15. That was ________________ to happen.
  16. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  17. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  18. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  19. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  22. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.

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

Answer key

  1. nail — on a finger
  2. content — the amount
  3. clip — for paper
  4. bound — tied together
  5. hide — to keep secret
  6. nail — for a hammer
  7. content — happy
  8. capital — a city
  9. hide — to keep secret
  10. content — videos and posts
  11. net — in sport
  12. fall — the season
  13. fall — to drop
  14. capital — money
  15. bound — certain
  16. nail — for a hammer
  17. fall — to drop
  18. hide — animal skin
  19. bound — obliged
  20. clip — to cut
  21. net — after costs
  22. net — for catching
  23. clip — a video
  24. capital — a big letter

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