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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. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  2. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  3. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  4. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  9. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  10. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  11. Where did you ________________ them?
  12. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. David sat on the ________________.
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  18. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  19. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  20. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  21. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  22. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  23. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  24. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — to cut
  2. racket — a loud noise
  3. lie — an untruth
  4. content — the amount
  5. cold — an illness
  6. swing — in golf
  7. clip — a video
  8. chair — a professorship
  9. content — happy
  10. racket — for tennis
  11. mug — to rob
  12. chair — a leader
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. swing — to play on
  15. clip — for paper
  16. cold — not warm
  17. content — videos and posts
  18. mug — a cup
  19. mug — a face
  20. lie — to recline
  21. lie — an untruth
  22. chair — to sit on
  23. racket — for tennis
  24. swing — music

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