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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. I can't ________________ this cold.
  2. That was ________________ to happen.
  3. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  4. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  5. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  6. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  7. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  8. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  12. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  13. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  14. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  15. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  16. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  17. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  18. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  19. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  20. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  21. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  22. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  23. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  24. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. stand — to bear
  2. bound — certain
  3. hand — part of the body
  4. stand — for spectators
  5. content — the amount
  6. bark — a dog's sound
  7. lash — a whip stroke
  8. content — happy
  9. clip — to cut
  10. clip — for paper
  11. lash — an eyelash
  12. stand — on your feet
  13. bound — obliged
  14. hand — help
  15. content — videos and posts
  16. capital — a city
  17. hand — in cards
  18. capital — a big letter
  19. bark — to shout
  20. bark — of a tree
  21. lash — to lash out
  22. bound — tied together
  23. capital — money
  24. clip — a video

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