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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. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  3. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  4. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  5. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  6. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  7. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  8. The ________________ took off on time.
  9. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  10. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  11. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  12. That was a fun ________________.
  13. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  14. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  15. My mare is ________________ in color.
  16. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. What do you think of the new ________________?
  19. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  20. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  21. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  22. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  23. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  24. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. march — the month
  3. cue — for pool
  4. clip — to cut
  5. cue — a signal
  6. game — wild animals
  7. cue — a hint
  8. plane — an aircraft
  9. content — the amount
  10. game — a kind of play
  11. clip — for paper
  12. game — a match
  13. bay — to keep at bay
  14. plane — in geometry
  15. bay — a horse colour
  16. cabinet — ministers
  17. clip — a video
  18. cabinet — ministers
  19. march — music
  20. cabinet — a cupboard
  21. bay — a part of the sea
  22. content — videos and posts
  23. march — the month
  24. plane — a tool

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