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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. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  2. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  3. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  4. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  5. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  6. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  7. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  8. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  9. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  10. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  11. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  12. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  17. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  20. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  21. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  22. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  23. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  24. David sat on the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pit — a hole
  2. object — a thing
  3. swing — in golf
  4. stem — of a plant
  5. object — to protest
  6. swing — music
  7. stem — a stem cell
  8. kid — to tease
  9. kid — child
  10. stem — to come from
  11. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  12. wind — moving air
  13. clip — to cut
  14. object — an aim
  15. clip — a video
  16. content — happy
  17. pit — a fruit stone
  18. clip — for paper
  19. wind — moving air
  20. pit — in a race
  21. wind — to turn a key
  22. content — the amount
  23. content — videos and posts
  24. swing — to play on

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