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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. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  3. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  4. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  5. Don't do anything ________________.
  6. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  7. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  8. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  9. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  10. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  11. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  12. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  13. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  14. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  15. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  16. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  17. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  18. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  19. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  20. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  21. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  22. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  23. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  24. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  3. mark — to pay attention
  4. clip — a video
  5. rash — hasty
  6. mark — a grade
  7. bat — in an idiom
  8. lie — an untruth
  9. rash — on the skin
  10. bat — for baseball
  11. track — a path
  12. content — videos and posts
  13. lie — an untruth
  14. lie — to recline
  15. content — the amount
  16. track — a song
  17. content — happy
  18. kid — to tease
  19. kid — child
  20. mark — a trace
  21. track — to keep track
  22. clip — to cut
  23. bat — the animal
  24. rash — a series

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