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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. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  2. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  3. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  4. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  5. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  6. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  7. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  8. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  9. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  12. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  13. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  14. The King held a masked ________________.
  15. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  16. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  17. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  18. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  19. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  20. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  21. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  22. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  23. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  24. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — the animal
  2. face — to point toward
  3. bat — in an idiom
  4. clip — a video
  5. bat — for baseball
  6. ball — a round shape
  7. straw — to clutch at straws
  8. kick — a thrill
  9. ball — a great time
  10. clip — for paper
  11. content — the amount
  12. racket — for tennis
  13. face — part of the head
  14. ball — a dance
  15. content — happy
  16. clip — to cut
  17. straw — dry grass
  18. racket — for tennis
  19. racket — a loud noise
  20. content — videos and posts
  21. straw — a straw man
  22. kick — with a leg
  23. kick — in football
  24. face — to confront

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