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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 120 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. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  2. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  3. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  4. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  5. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  6. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  7. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  8. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  9. Did you ________________ the button?
  10. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  11. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  12. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  13. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  14. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  15. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  16. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  17. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  18. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  19. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  20. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  21. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  24. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.

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

Answer key

  1. scale — size or range
  2. clip — to cut
  3. mine — belonging to me
  4. content — happy
  5. mark — to pay attention
  6. file — a line of people
  7. firm — a company
  8. content — videos and posts
  9. press — to push
  10. press — a publisher
  11. mark — a grade
  12. file — a tool
  13. mine — an explosive
  14. press — newspapers
  15. content — the amount
  16. firm — decided
  17. scale — for weighing
  18. file — a document
  19. clip — for paper
  20. mark — a trace
  21. scale — in music
  22. clip — a video
  23. mine — for digging
  24. firm — steady

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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