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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. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  2. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  3. I've got to change the light ________________.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  6. This piece is in a major ________________.
  7. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  8. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  9. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  12. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  13. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  14. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  15. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. The light ________________ burned out.
  19. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  20. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  24. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?

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

Answer key

  1. content — the amount
  2. bat — for baseball
  3. bulb — for light
  4. cold — not warm
  5. key — the most important part
  6. key — in music
  7. bat — the animal
  8. bulb — of a plant
  9. chair — a professorship
  10. clip — to cut
  11. chair — to sit on
  12. lean — to rest against
  13. content — happy
  14. content — videos and posts
  15. lean — to bend
  16. clip — a video
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. bulb — for light
  19. lean — thin
  20. bat — in an idiom
  21. clip — for paper
  22. cold — an illness
  23. chair — a leader
  24. key — for a lock

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