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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. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  2. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  3. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  6. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  7. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  8. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  9. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  10. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  11. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  12. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  13. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  14. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  15. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  16. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  17. Did you ________________ the meat?
  18. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  19. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  20. There's no middle ________________.
  21. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  22. Have you found your soul ________________?
  23. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  24. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.

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

Answer key

  1. mark — to pay attention
  2. content — happy
  3. mark — a trace
  4. clip — for paper
  5. ground — the earth
  6. mark — a grade
  7. kid — child
  8. season — in sport
  9. mate — a friend
  10. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  11. content — the amount
  12. ground — crushed
  13. drill — the tool
  14. drill — a practice
  15. kid — to tease
  16. season — of the year
  17. season — to add flavour
  18. clip — a video
  19. content — videos and posts
  20. ground — a position
  21. mate — to breed
  22. mate — a partner
  23. drill — army training
  24. clip — to cut

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