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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. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  2. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  3. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  7. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  10. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  11. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  12. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  13. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  14. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  15. The King held a masked ________________.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  18. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  21. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  22. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  23. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  24. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — a supporter
  2. rule — a law
  3. clip — a video
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. clip — to cut
  6. foot — the bottom
  7. content — happy
  8. clip — for paper
  9. foot — a measure
  10. rule — to rule out
  11. rule — government
  12. mark — a grade
  13. mark — to pay attention
  14. content — the amount
  15. ball — a dance
  16. cold — an illness
  17. ball — a round shape
  18. fan — to cool the air
  19. cold — not warm
  20. mark — a trace
  21. foot — part of the body
  22. ball — a great time
  23. fan — a supporter
  24. content — videos and posts

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