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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 116 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. Have you met the new head ________________?
  2. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  3. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  4. I'll be taking the ________________.
  5. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  6. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  7. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  10. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  11. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  14. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  15. This piece is in a major ________________.
  16. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  17. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  18. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

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

Answer key

  1. coach — a trainer
  2. clip — to cut
  3. coach — pulled by horses
  4. tube — the underground
  5. bat — in an idiom
  6. fork — to eat with
  7. key — the most important part
  8. clip — for paper
  9. fork — in a road
  10. tube — a container
  11. tube — in a tire
  12. clip — a video
  13. fork — a garden tool
  14. coach — a trainer
  15. key — in music
  16. key — for a lock
  17. bat — the animal
  18. bat — for baseball

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