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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. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  4. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  5. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  8. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  9. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  10. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  11. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  12. Where did you ________________ them?
  13. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  14. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  15. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  16. He works in a ________________ mill.
  17. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  18. She's very handy with a ________________.
  19. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  20. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  21. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  22. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  23. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  24. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. clip — for paper
  3. toast — the most admired
  4. mug — a cup
  5. toast — bread
  6. clip — a video
  7. content — videos and posts
  8. file — a tool
  9. capital — a city
  10. toast — a drink to someone
  11. squash — to crush
  12. mug — to rob
  13. squash — the sport
  14. capital — a big letter
  15. content — the amount
  16. saw — the tool
  17. squash — the vegetable
  18. saw — the tool
  19. file — a line of people
  20. mug — a face
  21. capital — money
  22. file — a document
  23. clip — to cut
  24. saw — past of 'see'

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