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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. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  2. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  3. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  4. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  7. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  8. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  9. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  10. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  11. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  12. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  13. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  14. The tickets are free of ________________.
  15. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  16. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  17. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  19. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  20. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  21. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  22. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  23. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  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. row — a quarrel
  2. staff — a stick
  3. mark — to pay attention
  4. content — happy
  5. clip — for paper
  6. row — a line
  7. charge — in control
  8. staff — employees
  9. content — the amount
  10. kid — child
  11. bass — low music
  12. row — to paddle
  13. mark — a grade
  14. charge — a price
  15. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  16. content — videos and posts
  17. bass — the fish
  18. clip — to cut
  19. mark — a trace
  20. staff — employees
  21. charge — electricity
  22. bass — the instrument
  23. kid — to tease
  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