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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.

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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. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  3. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  4. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  5. He was locked up in a ________________.
  6. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  7. Did you ________________ the meat?
  8. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  11. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  12. That was a fun ________________.
  13. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  14. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  15. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  16. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  17. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  18. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  19. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  20. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  21. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  24. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — to cut
  2. bat — in an idiom
  3. season — in sport
  4. leaves — of a tree
  5. cell — in a prison
  6. can — to be able to
  7. season — to add flavour
  8. bat — for baseball
  9. clip — for paper
  10. bat — the animal
  11. season — of the year
  12. game — a match
  13. leaves — lets stay
  14. leaves — to go away
  15. cell — in biology
  16. patient — a sick person
  17. can — a tin
  18. patient — calm and waiting
  19. patient — a sick person
  20. cell — a phone
  21. can — a tin
  22. clip — a video
  23. game — wild animals
  24. game — a kind of play

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