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

Word bank: date · racket · content · pit · cold · clip · deal · saw

  1. She's very handy with a ________________.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  5. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  6. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  9. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  10. He works in a ________________ mill.
  11. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  12. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  13. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  16. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  17. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  18. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  19. Have you settled on a ________________?
  20. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  21. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  22. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  23. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  24. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. saw — the tool
  2. cold — not warm
  3. cold — an illness
  4. deal — a big deal
  5. racket — for tennis
  6. clip — for paper
  7. clip — a video
  8. content — happy
  9. content — the amount
  10. saw — the tool
  11. racket — a loud noise
  12. pit — a hole
  13. date — on the calendar
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. racket — for tennis
  16. deal — an agreement
  17. saw — past of 'see'
  18. date — the fruit
  19. date — on the calendar
  20. pit — a fruit stone
  21. clip — to cut
  22. pit — in a race
  23. deal — to handle
  24. content — videos and posts

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