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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. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  2. She's very handy with a ________________.
  3. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  4. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  5. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  6. My mare is ________________ in color.
  7. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  8. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  9. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  10. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  11. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  12. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  13. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  14. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  15. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. He works in a ________________ mill.
  18. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  19. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  20. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  21. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  22. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  23. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  24. I had a ________________ with my boss today.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — to cut
  2. saw — the tool
  3. content — happy
  4. dip — to sink
  5. content — the amount
  6. bay — a horse colour
  7. dip — to dunk
  8. deal — a big deal
  9. deal — an agreement
  10. saw — past of 'see'
  11. clip — for paper
  12. content — videos and posts
  13. dip — a sauce
  14. row — to paddle
  15. field — for sport
  16. clip — a video
  17. saw — the tool
  18. bay — a part of the sea
  19. field — farmland
  20. deal — to handle
  21. field — a subject
  22. bay — to keep at bay
  23. row — a line
  24. row — a quarrel

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