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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: clip · tear · wake · content · cabinet · foot · cell · craft

  1. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  2. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  3. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  4. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  5. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  6. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  7. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  10. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  13. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  14. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  15. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  16. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  17. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  18. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  19. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  20. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  21. He was locked up in a ________________.
  22. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  23. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  24. What do you think of the new ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. foot — a measure
  2. tear — to rip
  3. wake — to stop sleeping
  4. craft — a handicraft
  5. craft — boats
  6. content — happy
  7. cell — in biology
  8. clip — for paper
  9. wake — before a funeral
  10. foot — the bottom
  11. clip — a video
  12. tear — from crying
  13. cabinet — a cupboard
  14. content — the amount
  15. craft — a skill
  16. tear — from crying
  17. cell — a phone
  18. cabinet — ministers
  19. foot — part of the body
  20. wake — a trail
  21. cell — in a prison
  22. clip — to cut
  23. content — videos and posts
  24. cabinet — ministers

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