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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. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  2. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  7. When will it ________________ you to start?
  8. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  9. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  10. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  11. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  12. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  13. The ball is in your ________________.
  14. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  15. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  16. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  17. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  18. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  19. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  20. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  21. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  22. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  23. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. content — videos and posts
  2. hand — in cards
  3. cold — not warm
  4. clip — a video
  5. cold — an illness
  6. suit — in cards
  7. suit — to fit
  8. squash — to crush
  9. court — of a king
  10. court — of law
  11. clip — for paper
  12. squash — the sport
  13. court — for sport
  14. content — happy
  15. hand — help
  16. ruler — for measuring
  17. squash — the vegetable
  18. ruler — for measuring
  19. content — the amount
  20. suit — clothes
  21. clip — to cut
  22. ruler — a monarch
  23. hand — part of the body
  24. cold — the Cold War

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