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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. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. I can't ________________ this cold.
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  5. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  6. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  9. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  10. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  11. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  12. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  13. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  18. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  19. Where did you ________________ them?
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. That must've been a ________________.
  23. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  24. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. stand — to bear
  3. clip — to cut
  4. branch — a division
  5. branch — of a bank
  6. content — videos and posts
  7. clip — for paper
  8. branch — of a tree
  9. vault — a safe
  10. vault — an arched ceiling
  11. rush — hurry
  12. mug — a cup
  13. stand — for spectators
  14. cold — not warm
  15. content — the amount
  16. cold — an illness
  17. vault — in gymnastics
  18. rush — to hurry
  19. mug — to rob
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. clip — a video
  22. rush — a thrill
  23. stand — on your feet
  24. mug — a face

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