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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 120 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. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  3. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  4. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  5. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. Don't do anything ________________.
  8. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  9. Did you ________________ the meat?
  10. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  11. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  12. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  13. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  14. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  15. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  16. David sat on the ________________.
  17. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  18. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  19. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  20. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  21. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  22. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  23. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  24. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. clip — to cut
  3. bowl — a dish
  4. rule — a law
  5. season — in sport
  6. clip — a video
  7. rash — hasty
  8. bat — in an idiom
  9. season — to add flavour
  10. bat — for baseball
  11. swing — in golf
  12. rule — government
  13. rule — to rule out
  14. snap — to speak sharply
  15. rash — on the skin
  16. swing — to play on
  17. snap — to snap out of it
  18. bowl — a football final
  19. swing — music
  20. bowl — to roll
  21. snap — to click
  22. season — of the year
  23. rash — a series
  24. bat — the animal

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