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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. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  3. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  4. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  5. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  6. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  7. There's no middle ________________.
  8. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  9. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  12. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  13. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  14. I'll be taking the ________________.
  15. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  16. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  17. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  18. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  21. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  22. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  23. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  24. Add some ________________ pepper to it.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. bat — in an idiom
  3. ground — the earth
  4. kid — to tease
  5. bat — for baseball
  6. cap — a hat
  7. ground — a position
  8. present — a gift
  9. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  10. clip — to cut
  11. cap — a lid
  12. kid — child
  13. bat — the animal
  14. tube — the underground
  15. present — there
  16. club — for golf
  17. tube — a container
  18. tube — in a tire
  19. clip — a video
  20. club — for dancing
  21. present — the time now
  22. cap — of ice
  23. club — a group
  24. ground — crushed

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