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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. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  2. Have you met the new head ________________?
  3. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  4. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  5. He works in a ________________ mill.
  6. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  7. That must've been a ________________.
  8. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  9. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  10. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  11. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  12. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  13. She's very handy with a ________________.
  14. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  15. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  16. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  17. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  18. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  19. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  22. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  23. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  24. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.

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

Answer key

  1. foot — a measure
  2. coach — a trainer
  3. clip — a video
  4. content — the amount
  5. saw — the tool
  6. clip — for paper
  7. rush — a thrill
  8. bat — in an idiom
  9. rush — to hurry
  10. tear — to rip
  11. tear — from crying
  12. content — videos and posts
  13. saw — the tool
  14. foot — part of the body
  15. tear — from crying
  16. bat — for baseball
  17. coach — pulled by horses
  18. rush — hurry
  19. saw — past of 'see'
  20. clip — to cut
  21. content — happy
  22. bat — the animal
  23. coach — a trainer
  24. foot — the bottom

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