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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: ball · tube · kick · bulb · deal · track · clip · content

  1. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  3. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  4. The light ________________ burned out.
  5. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  6. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  7. I'll be taking the ________________.
  8. I've got to change the light ________________.
  9. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  10. The King held a masked ________________.
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  13. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  14. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  15. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  16. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  17. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  18. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  19. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  20. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  21. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  22. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  23. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  24. Hold the papers together with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. tube — a container
  3. deal — an agreement
  4. bulb — for light
  5. track — a song
  6. kick — a thrill
  7. tube — the underground
  8. bulb — for light
  9. bulb — of a plant
  10. ball — a dance
  11. clip — a video
  12. clip — to cut
  13. kick — with a leg
  14. ball — a great time
  15. tube — in a tire
  16. content — videos and posts
  17. kick — in football
  18. content — the amount
  19. track — to keep track
  20. deal — a big deal
  21. ball — a round shape
  22. deal — to handle
  23. track — a path
  24. clip — for paper

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