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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. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  3. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  4. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  7. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  10. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  11. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  12. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  13. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  14. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  15. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  16. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  17. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  18. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  19. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  22. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  23. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  24. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. hide — to keep secret
  3. net — in sport
  4. straw — dry grass
  5. clip — a video
  6. jam — in traffic
  7. dip — a sauce
  8. clip — for paper
  9. net — after costs
  10. content — the amount
  11. net — for catching
  12. dip — to sink
  13. hide — to keep secret
  14. hide — animal skin
  15. jam — to spread on bread
  16. race — humankind
  17. race — a contest
  18. dip — to dunk
  19. jam — a tight spot
  20. clip — to cut
  21. straw — a straw man
  22. content — videos and posts
  23. straw — to clutch at straws
  24. race — the arms race

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