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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: bank · date · content · chair · chest · clip · wind · present

  1. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  2. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  5. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  6. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  7. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  8. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  9. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  10. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  11. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  12. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  13. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  14. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  15. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  16. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  17. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  18. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  19. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  20. Have you settled on a ________________?
  21. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  22. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  23. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  24. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. content — the amount
  2. clip — a video
  3. clip — to cut
  4. bank — for money
  5. present — there
  6. present — a gift
  7. date — on the calendar
  8. chest — of your body
  9. bank — of a river
  10. content — videos and posts
  11. chest — a box
  12. clip — for paper
  13. bank — for money
  14. content — happy
  15. wind — moving air
  16. present — the time now
  17. wind — moving air
  18. wind — to turn a key
  19. chair — to sit on
  20. date — on the calendar
  21. chair — a professorship
  22. chair — a leader
  23. date — the fruit
  24. chest — of your body

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