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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. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  2. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  3. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  4. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  5. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  6. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  7. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  8. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  9. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  10. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  13. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  14. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  15. When are we going to ________________?
  16. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  17. It's one o'clock ________________.
  18. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  19. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  20. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  21. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  22. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  23. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  24. Hold the papers together with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — to sit on
  2. land — ground
  3. wave — a sudden rise
  4. chair — a professorship
  5. content — happy
  6. sharp — clever
  7. land — a country
  8. wave — of the sea
  9. spring — the season
  10. content — videos and posts
  11. clip — a video
  12. clip — to cut
  13. content — the amount
  14. bear — the animal
  15. land — to come down
  16. chair — a leader
  17. sharp — exactly
  18. sharp — with an edge
  19. wave — with your hand
  20. bear — the animal
  21. spring — a coil
  22. bear — to put up with
  23. spring — of water
  24. clip — for paper

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