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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. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  2. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  4. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  8. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  9. Where did you ________________ them?
  10. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  11. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  12. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  13. He is an ace ________________.
  14. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  15. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  16. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  17. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  18. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  19. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  20. He was locked up in a ________________.
  21. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  22. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  23. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  24. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — a phone
  2. clip — for paper
  3. content — the amount
  4. content — videos and posts
  5. clip — to cut
  6. clip — a video
  7. kid — to tease
  8. mug — a cup
  9. mug — to rob
  10. content — happy
  11. cell — in biology
  12. kid — child
  13. pitcher — in baseball
  14. snap — to click
  15. pitcher — a jug
  16. pitcher — a jug
  17. hand — part of the body
  18. hand — in cards
  19. hand — help
  20. cell — in a prison
  21. snap — to snap out of it
  22. mug — a face
  23. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  24. snap — to speak sharply

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