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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 · dip · race · wind · content · lean · net · spell

  1. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  3. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  4. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  5. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  6. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  7. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  8. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  11. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  12. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  13. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  14. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  15. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  16. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  17. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  18. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  19. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. How do you ________________ your surname?
  22. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  23. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  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. net — for catching
  3. spell — magic
  4. lean — to rest against
  5. content — the amount
  6. race — a contest
  7. dip — to dunk
  8. wind — to turn a key
  9. clip — to cut
  10. lean — thin
  11. race — humankind
  12. dip — a sauce
  13. wind — moving air
  14. wind — moving air
  15. spell — a short time
  16. content — videos and posts
  17. dip — to sink
  18. lean — to bend
  19. net — after costs
  20. clip — a video
  21. spell — letters
  22. race — the arms race
  23. net — in sport
  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