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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 116 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. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  5. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  6. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  7. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  8. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  9. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  10. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  11. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  14. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  15. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. My mare is ________________ in color.
  19. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  20. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  21. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  24. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — an injury
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. clip — to cut
  4. bat — for baseball
  5. content — videos and posts
  6. bay — a part of the sea
  7. content — the amount
  8. content — happy
  9. bowl — a football final
  10. wound — an injury
  11. bay — to keep at bay
  12. cold — not warm
  13. perch — the fish
  14. perch — for a bird
  15. bat — the animal
  16. clip — for paper
  17. clip — a video
  18. bay — a horse colour
  19. wound — past of 'wind'
  20. perch — for a bird
  21. bowl — a dish
  22. cold — an illness
  23. bowl — to roll
  24. bat — in an idiom

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