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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. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  3. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  6. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  7. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  8. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  9. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  10. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  11. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  12. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  13. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  14. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  15. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  16. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  17. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  18. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  19. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  20. He was locked up in a ________________.
  21. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  22. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  23. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  24. Check the label for the sugar ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. cell — in biology
  3. clip — a video
  4. clip — for paper
  5. drill — the tool
  6. track — a path
  7. drill — a practice
  8. track — a song
  9. squash — to crush
  10. content — videos and posts
  11. file — a line of people
  12. track — to keep track
  13. squash — the vegetable
  14. file — a tool
  15. squash — the sport
  16. cell — a phone
  17. drill — army training
  18. hide — to keep secret
  19. file — a document
  20. cell — in a prison
  21. hide — to keep secret
  22. clip — to cut
  23. hide — animal skin
  24. content — the amount

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