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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. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  3. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  4. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  5. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  6. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  7. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  8. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  9. I can't ________________ this cold.
  10. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  11. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  12. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  13. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  14. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  15. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. There's no middle ________________.
  18. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  19. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  20. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  21. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  22. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  23. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  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. content — happy
  2. shower — to wash
  3. shower — a meteor shower
  4. vault — in gymnastics
  5. board — to get on
  6. vault — an arched ceiling
  7. stand — on your feet
  8. straw — to clutch at straws
  9. stand — to bear
  10. stand — for spectators
  11. vault — a safe
  12. board — a flat piece
  13. shower — rain
  14. board — a committee
  15. straw — a straw man
  16. clip — a video
  17. ground — a position
  18. straw — dry grass
  19. clip — for paper
  20. ground — crushed
  21. ground — the earth
  22. clip — to cut
  23. content — videos and posts
  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