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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: rest · march · fan · mouse · clip · ground · content · chest

  1. There's no middle ________________.
  2. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  3. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  4. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  5. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  6. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  7. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  12. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  13. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  14. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  15. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  16. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  17. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  18. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  19. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  20. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  21. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  22. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  23. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  24. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — a position
  2. rest — a break
  3. fan — a supporter
  4. mouse — for a computer
  5. ground — crushed
  6. content — happy
  7. chest — of your body
  8. clip — a video
  9. chest — of your body
  10. clip — to cut
  11. ground — the earth
  12. chest — a box
  13. fan — a supporter
  14. content — the amount
  15. march — the month
  16. march — music
  17. rest — what's left
  18. mouse — the animal
  19. mouse — the animal
  20. fan — to cool the air
  21. rest — what's left
  22. march — the month
  23. clip — for paper
  24. content — videos and posts

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