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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: lie · content · clip · cold · suit · chest · wind · ruler

  1. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  2. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  3. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  4. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  5. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  6. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  7. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  8. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  9. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  10. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  11. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  12. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  13. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  14. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  15. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  16. When will it ________________ you to start?
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  23. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  24. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. chest — of your body
  3. ruler — for measuring
  4. chest — a box
  5. content — the amount
  6. content — videos and posts
  7. chest — of your body
  8. lie — an untruth
  9. suit — clothes
  10. ruler — a monarch
  11. clip — for paper
  12. wind — moving air
  13. lie — to recline
  14. wind — to turn a key
  15. content — happy
  16. suit — to fit
  17. clip — a video
  18. cold — an illness
  19. lie — an untruth
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. cold — not warm
  22. ruler — for measuring
  23. suit — in cards
  24. clip — to cut

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