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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. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  2. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  3. He was locked up in a ________________.
  4. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  5. How do you ________________ your surname?
  6. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  7. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  8. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  9. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  10. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  11. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  12. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  13. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  18. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  19. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  20. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  21. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  22. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  23. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  24. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. trunk — of a tree
  2. clip — a video
  3. cell — in a prison
  4. cell — a phone
  5. spell — letters
  6. capital — a big letter
  7. drill — a practice
  8. drill — the tool
  9. lean — thin
  10. cell — in biology
  11. trunk — of a car
  12. capital — money
  13. content — videos and posts
  14. clip — to cut
  15. drill — army training
  16. clip — for paper
  17. spell — magic
  18. trunk — of an elephant
  19. lean — to rest against
  20. capital — a city
  21. content — the amount
  22. lean — to bend
  23. spell — a short time
  24. content — happy

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