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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. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  2. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  3. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  4. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  5. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  6. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  7. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  10. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  13. That was a fun ________________.
  14. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  15. I'll be taking the ________________.
  16. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  17. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  18. That must've been a ________________.
  19. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  20. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  21. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  22. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  23. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  24. Boris sat near the fire ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. craft — boats
  2. content — happy
  3. content — the amount
  4. content — videos and posts
  5. foot — a measure
  6. game — wild animals
  7. craft — a handicraft
  8. clip — for paper
  9. craft — a skill
  10. clip — a video
  11. clip — to cut
  12. pit — a fruit stone
  13. game — a match
  14. rush — to hurry
  15. tube — the underground
  16. tube — in a tire
  17. pit — in a race
  18. rush — a thrill
  19. tube — a container
  20. foot — the bottom
  21. rush — hurry
  22. foot — part of the body
  23. game — a kind of play
  24. pit — a hole

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