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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 120 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. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  3. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  4. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  5. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  6. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  7. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  8. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  9. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  10. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  11. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  12. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  13. The light ________________ burned out.
  14. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  15. She's very handy with a ________________.
  16. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  17. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  21. He works in a ________________ mill.
  22. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  23. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  24. I've got to change the light ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. content — the amount
  2. content — happy
  3. chest — of your body
  4. fan — to cool the air
  5. cue — for pool
  6. chest — of your body
  7. fall — to drop
  8. cue — a signal
  9. fan — a supporter
  10. bulb — of a plant
  11. fan — a supporter
  12. cue — a hint
  13. bulb — for light
  14. clip — for paper
  15. saw — the tool
  16. content — videos and posts
  17. fall — to drop
  18. clip — to cut
  19. clip — a video
  20. chest — a box
  21. saw — the tool
  22. saw — past of 'see'
  23. fall — the season
  24. bulb — for light

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