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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. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  3. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  9. Have you found your soul ________________?
  10. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  11. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  12. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  15. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  16. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  17. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  18. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  21. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  22. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  23. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  24. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. rule — to rule out
  3. content — happy
  4. cold — not warm
  5. clip — to cut
  6. bass — low music
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. pound — for dogs
  9. mate — a partner
  10. wake — to stop sleeping
  11. rule — a law
  12. pound — to hit hard
  13. cold — an illness
  14. rule — government
  15. wake — a trail
  16. pound — a weight
  17. mate — a friend
  18. mate — to breed
  19. clip — a video
  20. content — videos and posts
  21. bass — the instrument
  22. content — the amount
  23. bass — the fish
  24. wake — before a funeral

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