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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 116 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 hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  2. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  3. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  4. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  5. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  6. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  7. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  8. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  9. My mare is ________________ in color.
  10. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  11. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  12. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  13. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  14. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  17. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  20. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  21. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  22. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  23. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  24. The polar ice ________________ is melting.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — part of the body
  2. clip — to cut
  3. content — happy
  4. hand — help
  5. firm — a company
  6. content — the amount
  7. hand — in cards
  8. content — videos and posts
  9. bay — a horse colour
  10. face — to point toward
  11. cap — a hat
  12. bay — a part of the sea
  13. bay — to keep at bay
  14. face — to confront
  15. clip — a video
  16. face — part of the head
  17. spring — of water
  18. clip — for paper
  19. spring — the season
  20. spring — a coil
  21. cap — a lid
  22. firm — decided
  23. firm — steady
  24. cap — of ice

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