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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. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  2. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  3. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  4. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  5. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  6. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  7. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. David sat on the ________________.
  10. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  11. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  12. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  13. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  14. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  15. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  16. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  17. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  18. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  19. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  20. Have you settled on a ________________?
  21. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  22. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  23. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  24. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?

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

Answer key

  1. wound — past of 'wind'
  2. content — the amount
  3. file — a tool
  4. content — videos and posts
  5. hand — in cards
  6. swing — in golf
  7. hand — help
  8. clip — for paper
  9. swing — to play on
  10. wound — an injury
  11. hide — animal skin
  12. hide — to keep secret
  13. content — happy
  14. date — on the calendar
  15. swing — music
  16. clip — to cut
  17. date — the fruit
  18. clip — a video
  19. hand — part of the body
  20. date — on the calendar
  21. file — a document
  22. file — a line of people
  23. wound — an injury
  24. hide — to keep secret

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