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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. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. The light ________________ burned out.
  7. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  8. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  9. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  10. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  11. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  12. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  13. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  14. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. My mare is ________________ in color.
  17. I've got to change the light ________________.
  18. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  19. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  20. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  21. He is an ace ________________.
  22. It's one o'clock ________________.
  23. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  24. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. sharp — clever
  3. clip — to cut
  4. bark — to shout
  5. clip — for paper
  6. bulb — for light
  7. content — videos and posts
  8. bark — of a tree
  9. calf — a young animal
  10. calf — of the leg
  11. pitcher — a jug
  12. bay — to keep at bay
  13. pitcher — a jug
  14. content — the amount
  15. clip — a video
  16. bay — a horse colour
  17. bulb — for light
  18. bark — a dog's sound
  19. sharp — with an edge
  20. bulb — of a plant
  21. pitcher — in baseball
  22. sharp — exactly
  23. bay — a part of the sea
  24. calf — a young animal

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