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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: clip · arm · roll · content · row · saw · ground · can

  1. There's no middle ________________.
  2. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  3. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  4. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  5. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  6. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  7. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  8. We're on a ________________ here.
  9. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  10. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  11. My father caught me by the ________________.
  12. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  13. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  18. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  19. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  20. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  21. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  22. She's very handy with a ________________.
  23. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  24. He works in a ________________ mill.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — a position
  2. ground — the earth
  3. row — a quarrel
  4. content — happy
  5. ground — crushed
  6. roll — a list
  7. content — videos and posts
  8. roll — on a roll
  9. can — to be able to
  10. roll — a cake
  11. arm — part of the body
  12. row — a line
  13. arm — part of the body
  14. clip — to cut
  15. saw — past of 'see'
  16. clip — a video
  17. arm — a part of something
  18. content — the amount
  19. can — a tin
  20. clip — for paper
  21. can — a tin
  22. saw — the tool
  23. row — to paddle
  24. saw — the tool

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