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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. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  2. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  6. Where did you ________________ them?
  7. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  8. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  9. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  10. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  11. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  12. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  13. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  14. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  15. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  16. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  17. Have you settled on a ________________?
  18. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  19. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  20. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  21. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  24. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. wind — to turn a key
  2. mug — a face
  3. clip — to cut
  4. clip — for paper
  5. content — the amount
  6. mug — to rob
  7. date — the fruit
  8. rest — a break
  9. club — for dancing
  10. rest — what's left
  11. club — a group
  12. wind — moving air
  13. spring — the season
  14. content — happy
  15. mug — a cup
  16. spring — a coil
  17. date — on the calendar
  18. content — videos and posts
  19. spring — of water
  20. wind — moving air
  21. club — for golf
  22. clip — a video
  23. rest — what's left
  24. date — on the calendar

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