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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. False peace will not ________________.
  2. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  3. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  4. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  5. The King held a masked ________________.
  6. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  7. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  8. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  9. The ________________ market has crashed.
  10. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  11. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  12. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  15. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  16. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  19. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  20. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  21. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  22. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  23. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  24. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!

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

Answer key

  1. last — to go on
  2. chest — a box
  3. shower — to wash
  4. safe — out of danger
  5. ball — a dance
  6. clip — for paper
  7. shower — a meteor shower
  8. content — the amount
  9. stock — shares
  10. chest — of your body
  11. content — happy
  12. last — finally
  13. clip — to cut
  14. stock — a soup base
  15. safe — out of danger
  16. ball — a great time
  17. clip — a video
  18. chest — of your body
  19. ball — a round shape
  20. safe — a strongbox
  21. shower — rain
  22. stock — goods
  23. content — videos and posts
  24. last — final

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