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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 116 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. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  2. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  3. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  4. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  5. David sat on the ________________.
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  8. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  9. I'll be taking the ________________.
  10. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  11. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  12. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  13. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  16. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  17. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  18. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  19. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  20. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  21. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  22. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  23. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  24. Boris sat near the fire ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — a container
  2. content — videos and posts
  3. perch — for a bird
  4. content — happy
  5. swing — to play on
  6. clip — to cut
  7. pit — a fruit stone
  8. content — the amount
  9. tube — the underground
  10. cap — a lid
  11. clip — for paper
  12. snap — to click
  13. cap — of ice
  14. clip — a video
  15. perch — the fish
  16. swing — music
  17. perch — for a bird
  18. swing — in golf
  19. snap — to speak sharply
  20. tube — in a tire
  21. cap — a hat
  22. pit — in a race
  23. snap — to snap out of it
  24. pit — a hole

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