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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. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  2. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  5. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  8. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  9. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  10. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  11. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  15. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  16. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  17. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  18. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  21. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  22. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  23. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  24. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. content — the amount
  3. clip — for paper
  4. mouse — for a computer
  5. toast — a drink to someone
  6. cold — an illness
  7. row — a quarrel
  8. row — to paddle
  9. content — happy
  10. chair — a leader
  11. current — of water
  12. cold — not warm
  13. clip — to cut
  14. chair — a professorship
  15. mouse — the animal
  16. toast — bread
  17. current — electric
  18. current — happening now
  19. clip — a video
  20. content — videos and posts
  21. toast — the most admired
  22. chair — to sit on
  23. mouse — the animal
  24. row — a line

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