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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. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  2. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  4. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  5. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  6. What do you think of the new ________________?
  7. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  8. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  9. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  10. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  11. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  14. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  15. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  16. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  17. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  18. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  19. The ________________ took off on time.
  20. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  21. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  22. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  23. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  24. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — to cut
  2. clip — for paper
  3. content — happy
  4. wake — to stop sleeping
  5. content — videos and posts
  6. cabinet — ministers
  7. straw — dry grass
  8. ruler — a monarch
  9. fall — to drop
  10. straw — a straw man
  11. wake — before a funeral
  12. clip — a video
  13. content — the amount
  14. fall — to drop
  15. straw — to clutch at straws
  16. plane — in geometry
  17. fall — the season
  18. ruler — for measuring
  19. plane — an aircraft
  20. wake — a trail
  21. cabinet — ministers
  22. plane — a tool
  23. cabinet — a cupboard
  24. ruler — for measuring

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