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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. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  2. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  3. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  4. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  7. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  8. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  9. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  10. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  11. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  12. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  13. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  14. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  15. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  16. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  17. There's no middle ________________.
  18. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  19. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  20. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  21. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  22. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  23. When are we going to ________________?
  24. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. content — videos and posts
  3. stick — to attach or keep to
  4. land — a country
  5. clip — to cut
  6. land — ground
  7. stick — a piece of wood
  8. ground — crushed
  9. craft — boats
  10. wound — past of 'wind'
  11. wound — an injury
  12. stick — a piece of wood
  13. content — the amount
  14. craft — a handicraft
  15. wind — to turn a key
  16. craft — a skill
  17. ground — a position
  18. content — happy
  19. wound — an injury
  20. clip — for paper
  21. ground — the earth
  22. wind — moving air
  23. land — to come down
  24. clip — a video

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