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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. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  3. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  4. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  5. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  6. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  7. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  8. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  9. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  10. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  11. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  12. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  15. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  16. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  17. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  18. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  19. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  20. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  21. There's no middle ________________.
  22. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  23. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  24. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. club — for golf
  3. content — the amount
  4. clip — to cut
  5. squash — the sport
  6. bore — to tire
  7. bore — to drill
  8. hide — animal skin
  9. ground — the earth
  10. content — videos and posts
  11. ground — crushed
  12. squash — to crush
  13. clip — a video
  14. hide — to keep secret
  15. hide — to keep secret
  16. club — a group
  17. straw — a straw man
  18. squash — the vegetable
  19. bore — gave birth
  20. straw — dry grass
  21. ground — a position
  22. club — for dancing
  23. clip — for paper
  24. straw — to clutch at straws

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