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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. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. There's no middle ________________.
  4. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  5. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  6. The tickets are free of ________________.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  9. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  12. The King held a masked ________________.
  13. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  14. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  15. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  16. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  21. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  22. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  23. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  24. Where can I ________________ my mobile?

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

Answer key

  1. clip — to cut
  2. cold — an illness
  3. ground — a position
  4. racket — for tennis
  5. ground — the earth
  6. charge — a price
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. row — a line
  9. charge — in control
  10. clip — for paper
  11. ball — a round shape
  12. ball — a dance
  13. ground — crushed
  14. row — to paddle
  15. bore — to tire
  16. bore — gave birth
  17. cold — not warm
  18. ball — a great time
  19. clip — a video
  20. racket — a loud noise
  21. row — a quarrel
  22. racket — for tennis
  23. bore — to drill
  24. charge — electricity

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