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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. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  2. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  3. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  4. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  5. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  6. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  7. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  8. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  9. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  10. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  11. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  12. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  13. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  14. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  15. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  16. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  17. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  20. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  21. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  22. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  23. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  24. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.

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

Answer key

  1. content — the amount
  2. chest — of your body
  3. mouse — the animal
  4. lean — to rest against
  5. band — a music group
  6. race — a contest
  7. chest — of your body
  8. wake — a trail
  9. band — a ring
  10. clip — a video
  11. band — a rubber band
  12. mouse — the animal
  13. race — the arms race
  14. mouse — for a computer
  15. wake — before a funeral
  16. lean — to bend
  17. wake — to stop sleeping
  18. clip — for paper
  19. chest — a box
  20. content — happy
  21. lean — thin
  22. content — videos and posts
  23. race — humankind
  24. clip — to cut

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