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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. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  2. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  3. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  4. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  5. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  6. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  7. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  8. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  9. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  10. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  11. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  12. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  13. You don't need to ________________ round.
  14. We're almost out of ________________.
  15. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  16. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  17. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  18. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  19. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  20. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  21. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  22. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  23. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  24. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.

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

Answer key

  1. content — videos and posts
  2. bowl — a dish
  3. kid — to tease
  4. scale — size or range
  5. bowl — to roll
  6. clip — for paper
  7. clip — to cut
  8. kid — child
  9. clip — a video
  10. drill — the tool
  11. rest — what's left
  12. drill — a practice
  13. pop — to visit
  14. pop — soda
  15. content — the amount
  16. scale — for weighing
  17. scale — in music
  18. rest — what's left
  19. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  20. pop — music
  21. rest — a break
  22. content — happy
  23. drill — army training
  24. bowl — a football 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