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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 is an ace ________________.
  2. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  3. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  6. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  7. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. She's very handy with a ________________.
  10. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  11. It's one o'clock ________________.
  12. The King held a masked ________________.
  13. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  14. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  15. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  16. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  17. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  18. He works in a ________________ mill.
  19. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  20. We're on a ________________ here.
  21. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  22. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  23. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  24. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — in baseball
  2. row — a quarrel
  3. saw — past of 'see'
  4. clip — for paper
  5. sharp — with an edge
  6. pitcher — a jug
  7. content — happy
  8. clip — a video
  9. saw — the tool
  10. sharp — clever
  11. sharp — exactly
  12. ball — a dance
  13. ball — a great time
  14. roll — a list
  15. content — the amount
  16. pitcher — a jug
  17. roll — a cake
  18. saw — the tool
  19. row — a line
  20. roll — on a roll
  21. ball — a round shape
  22. row — to paddle
  23. content — videos and posts
  24. clip — to cut

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