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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: content · fall · cold · clip · craft · face · suit · deal

  1. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  2. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  3. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  4. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  5. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  6. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  7. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  8. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  9. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  10. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  11. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  12. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  13. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  16. When will it ________________ you to start?
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  23. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  24. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.

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

Answer key

  1. craft — boats
  2. clip — a video
  3. fall — to drop
  4. face — to point toward
  5. face — to confront
  6. content — the amount
  7. craft — a handicraft
  8. face — part of the head
  9. content — happy
  10. suit — clothes
  11. deal — a big deal
  12. fall — the season
  13. content — videos and posts
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. fall — to drop
  16. suit — to fit
  17. cold — not warm
  18. clip — to cut
  19. cold — an illness
  20. deal — to handle
  21. clip — for paper
  22. suit — in cards
  23. craft — a skill
  24. deal — an agreement

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