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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. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  2. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  3. That must've been a ________________.
  4. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  5. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  6. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  9. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  10. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  11. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  12. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  13. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  14. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  15. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  16. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  17. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  18. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  19. That was a fun ________________.
  20. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  21. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  24. I'll be taking the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rush — hurry
  2. content — the amount
  3. rush — a thrill
  4. face — part of the head
  5. branch — of a tree
  6. game — wild animals
  7. clip — for paper
  8. content — videos and posts
  9. branch — a division
  10. tube — in a tire
  11. game — a kind of play
  12. root — of a word
  13. face — to confront
  14. branch — of a bank
  15. rush — to hurry
  16. clip — to cut
  17. face — to point toward
  18. content — happy
  19. game — a match
  20. root — the cause
  21. tube — a container
  22. clip — a video
  23. root — of a plant
  24. tube — the underground

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