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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. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  2. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  3. Have you settled on a ________________?
  4. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  7. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  8. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  9. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  10. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  11. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  12. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  13. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  14. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  15. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  16. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  17. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  19. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  20. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  21. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  24. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — the season
  2. content — the amount
  3. date — on the calendar
  4. leaves — of a tree
  5. clip — for paper
  6. bowl — to roll
  7. date — on the calendar
  8. content — happy
  9. fall — to drop
  10. race — the arms race
  11. leaves — lets stay
  12. date — the fruit
  13. race — humankind
  14. bowl — a football final
  15. content — videos and posts
  16. hand — help
  17. leaves — to go away
  18. clip — to cut
  19. hand — part of the body
  20. hand — in cards
  21. fall — to drop
  22. clip — a video
  23. bowl — a dish
  24. race — a contest

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