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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. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  2. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  3. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  4. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  5. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  6. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  7. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  8. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  9. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  10. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  11. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  12. Have you met the new head ________________?
  13. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  14. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  15. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  16. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  17. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  18. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  19. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  20. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  23. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  24. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — a video
  2. wake — a trail
  3. spring — of water
  4. coach — pulled by horses
  5. wake — before a funeral
  6. content — the amount
  7. chest — of your body
  8. wake — to stop sleeping
  9. spring — the season
  10. hide — to keep secret
  11. hide — animal skin
  12. coach — a trainer
  13. hide — to keep secret
  14. perch — for a bird
  15. content — videos and posts
  16. chest — a box
  17. chest — of your body
  18. perch — for a bird
  19. coach — a trainer
  20. perch — the fish
  21. clip — for paper
  22. clip — to cut
  23. content — happy
  24. spring — a coil

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