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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. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  2. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  3. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  4. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  7. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. That must've been a ________________.
  10. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  11. Did you ________________ the meat?
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  14. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  15. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  16. He was locked up in a ________________.
  17. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  18. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  19. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  20. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  21. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  22. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  23. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  24. He hit the ball with his ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. staff — a stick
  2. kid — to tease
  3. cell — a phone
  4. rush — hurry
  5. clip — to cut
  6. racket — for tennis
  7. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  8. clip — for paper
  9. rush — a thrill
  10. season — in sport
  11. season — to add flavour
  12. clip — a video
  13. fine — all right
  14. fine — a penalty
  15. staff — employees
  16. cell — in a prison
  17. racket — a loud noise
  18. cell — in biology
  19. staff — employees
  20. kid — child
  21. fine — high quality
  22. season — of the year
  23. rush — to hurry
  24. racket — for tennis

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