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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. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  2. My mare is ________________ in color.
  3. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  4. The King held a masked ________________.
  5. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  6. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  7. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  11. My father caught me by the ________________.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  14. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  17. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  18. I can't ________________ this cold.
  19. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  20. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  21. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  22. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  23. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  24. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — an injury
  2. bay — a horse colour
  3. content — the amount
  4. ball — a dance
  5. ball — a round shape
  6. bay — a part of the sea
  7. clip — to cut
  8. cold — an illness
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. stand — for spectators
  11. arm — part of the body
  12. cold — not warm
  13. clip — for paper
  14. arm — a part of something
  15. clip — a video
  16. wound — an injury
  17. arm — part of the body
  18. stand — to bear
  19. stand — on your feet
  20. ball — a great time
  21. content — happy
  22. wound — past of 'wind'
  23. bay — to keep at bay
  24. content — videos and posts

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