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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 120 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: bay · content · pitch · clip · last · spell · cell · tear

  1. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  2. False peace will not ________________.
  3. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  4. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  5. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  6. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  7. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  8. How do you ________________ your surname?
  9. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  10. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  11. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  12. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  13. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  14. He was locked up in a ________________.
  15. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  19. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  22. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  23. My mare is ________________ in color.
  24. At ________________, we arrived at the village.

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

Answer key

  1. bay — a part of the sea
  2. last — to go on
  3. spell — a short time
  4. tear — to rip
  5. content — videos and posts
  6. content — the amount
  7. cell — in biology
  8. spell — letters
  9. pitch — a sports field
  10. pitch — a sales talk
  11. last — final
  12. cell — a phone
  13. tear — from crying
  14. cell — in a prison
  15. spell — magic
  16. clip — for paper
  17. clip — a video
  18. pitch — completely
  19. bay — to keep at bay
  20. clip — to cut
  21. tear — from crying
  22. content — happy
  23. bay — a horse colour
  24. last — finally

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