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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. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  2. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  3. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  4. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  5. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  6. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  7. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  8. My mare is ________________ in color.
  9. We're almost out of ________________.
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  14. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  15. You don't need to ________________ round.
  16. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  17. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  18. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  19. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  20. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  21. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  22. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  23. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  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. mine — for digging
  2. march — the month
  3. bay — a part of the sea
  4. clip — to cut
  5. mine — an explosive
  6. straw — a straw man
  7. march — the month
  8. bay — a horse colour
  9. pop — soda
  10. clip — for paper
  11. straw — to clutch at straws
  12. clip — a video
  13. mine — belonging to me
  14. bay — to keep at bay
  15. pop — to visit
  16. content — videos and posts
  17. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  18. straw — dry grass
  19. pop — music
  20. kid — child
  21. content — happy
  22. kid — to tease
  23. march — music
  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