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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: content · file · court · clip · wake · wind · safe · cell

  1. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  2. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  3. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  4. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  5. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  6. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  7. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  8. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  9. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  10. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  13. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  14. The ball is in your ________________.
  15. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  16. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  17. He was locked up in a ________________.
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  20. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  21. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  22. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  23. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  24. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!

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

Answer key

  1. safe — a strongbox
  2. clip — to cut
  3. wake — a trail
  4. safe — out of danger
  5. content — videos and posts
  6. court — of a king
  7. wake — to stop sleeping
  8. wake — before a funeral
  9. wind — to turn a key
  10. content — happy
  11. clip — a video
  12. safe — out of danger
  13. wind — moving air
  14. court — for sport
  15. cell — in biology
  16. file — a tool
  17. cell — in a prison
  18. clip — for paper
  19. content — the amount
  20. court — of law
  21. file — a line of people
  22. wind — moving air
  23. file — a document
  24. cell — a phone

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