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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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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 · clip · bear · mate · rock · kid

  1. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  3. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  4. Have you found your soul ________________?
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  7. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  8. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  9. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  10. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  11. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  12. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  13. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  14. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  15. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  16. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  17. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  18. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. clip — a video
  3. rock — to move gently
  4. mate — a partner
  5. clip — for paper
  6. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  7. bear — the animal
  8. bear — to put up with
  9. rock — music
  10. rock — a stone
  11. content — videos and posts
  12. content — the amount
  13. mate — to breed
  14. kid — child
  15. clip — to cut
  16. kid — to tease
  17. mate — a friend
  18. bear — the animal

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