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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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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: content · pit · bowl · cell · object · clip

  1. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  2. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  3. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  4. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  5. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  6. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  7. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  8. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  9. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  10. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  11. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  12. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  13. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  14. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  15. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. He was locked up in a ________________.
  18. Check the label for the sugar ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. object — to protest
  2. clip — to cut
  3. pit — a hole
  4. bowl — a dish
  5. cell — in biology
  6. bowl — to roll
  7. pit — in a race
  8. content — happy
  9. object — an aim
  10. object — a thing
  11. cell — a phone
  12. clip — for paper
  13. pit — a fruit stone
  14. content — videos and posts
  15. bowl — a football final
  16. clip — a video
  17. cell — in a prison
  18. content — the amount

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