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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. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  4. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  8. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  9. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  10. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  11. Did you ________________ the meat?
  12. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  13. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  14. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  15. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  16. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  17. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  20. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. I had a ________________ with my boss today.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — in cards
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. hand — help
  4. hand — part of the body
  5. clip — to cut
  6. clip — a video
  7. season — of the year
  8. bat — for baseball
  9. can — a tin
  10. can — to be able to
  11. season — to add flavour
  12. bat — in an idiom
  13. cue — a signal
  14. bat — the animal
  15. cue — for pool
  16. row — a line
  17. can — a tin
  18. clip — for paper
  19. season — in sport
  20. row — to paddle
  21. cold — an illness
  22. cue — a hint
  23. cold — not warm
  24. row — a quarrel

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