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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. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  5. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  6. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  7. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  8. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  9. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  10. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  11. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  12. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  13. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  14. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  18. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  19. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  20. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  21. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  22. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  23. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. object — an aim
  3. cold — not warm
  4. mark — to pay attention
  5. pound — to hit hard
  6. bat — the animal
  7. leaves — to go away
  8. deal — to handle
  9. pound — for dogs
  10. bat — for baseball
  11. leaves — of a tree
  12. clip — to cut
  13. object — a thing
  14. leaves — lets stay
  15. clip — a video
  16. cold — an illness
  17. object — to protest
  18. deal — an agreement
  19. mark — a grade
  20. pound — a weight
  21. mark — a trace
  22. bat — in an idiom
  23. deal — a big deal
  24. cold — the Cold War

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