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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. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  2. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  3. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  4. How do you ________________ your surname?
  5. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  8. When are we going to ________________?
  9. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  12. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  13. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  16. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  17. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  18. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  19. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  20. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  21. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  22. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  23. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  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. present — there
  2. bass — low music
  3. present — the time now
  4. spell — letters
  5. land — a country
  6. clip — to cut
  7. bass — the instrument
  8. land — to come down
  9. content — videos and posts
  10. clip — for paper
  11. spell — a short time
  12. spell — magic
  13. foot — part of the body
  14. clip — a video
  15. present — a gift
  16. land — ground
  17. foot — a measure
  18. bass — the fish
  19. content — happy
  20. foot — the bottom
  21. fork — in a road
  22. fork — to eat with
  23. fork — a garden tool
  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