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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. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  2. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  3. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  4. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  7. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  8. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  9. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  10. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  11. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  15. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  16. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  17. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  18. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  19. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  20. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  21. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  22. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  23. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  24. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.

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

Answer key

  1. content — videos and posts
  2. content — the amount
  3. clip — a video
  4. track — to keep track
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. bear — the animal
  7. track — a path
  8. bear — to put up with
  9. content — happy
  10. march — the month
  11. clip — for paper
  12. cold — not warm
  13. cold — an illness
  14. pass — to spend time
  15. pass — a permit
  16. dip — to sink
  17. dip — a sauce
  18. pass — to succeed
  19. track — a song
  20. dip — to dunk
  21. bear — the animal
  22. march — the month
  23. clip — to cut
  24. march — music

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