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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. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  2. The ball is in your ________________.
  3. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  4. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  5. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  6. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  7. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  10. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  11. Did you ________________ the button?
  12. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  13. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  14. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  15. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  16. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  17. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  18. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  19. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  20. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  21. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  22. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  23. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  24. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.

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

Answer key

  1. content — the amount
  2. court — for sport
  3. wind — moving air
  4. clip — to cut
  5. court — of law
  6. pound — to hit hard
  7. club — for dancing
  8. clip — a video
  9. press — newspapers
  10. dip — to dunk
  11. press — to push
  12. court — of a king
  13. pound — for dogs
  14. dip — to sink
  15. pound — a weight
  16. press — a publisher
  17. wind — moving air
  18. club — for golf
  19. content — videos and posts
  20. dip — a sauce
  21. content — happy
  22. clip — for paper
  23. club — a group
  24. wind — to turn a key

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