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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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  2. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  3. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  4. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  5. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  6. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  7. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  8. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  9. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  10. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  11. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  12. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  13. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  14. The King held a masked ________________.
  15. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  16. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  17. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  18. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — to cut
  2. bat — for baseball
  3. racket — for tennis
  4. kick — with a leg
  5. ball — a great time
  6. kick — a thrill
  7. racket — a loud noise
  8. racket — for tennis
  9. wave — a sudden rise
  10. clip — a video
  11. clip — for paper
  12. wave — of the sea
  13. kick — in football
  14. ball — a dance
  15. wave — with your hand
  16. bat — the animal
  17. ball — a round shape
  18. bat — in an idiom

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