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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. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  2. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  5. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  6. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  7. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  8. She's very handy with a ________________.
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  11. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  12. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  13. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  14. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  15. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  16. He works in a ________________ mill.
  17. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  18. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  19. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  20. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  21. We're almost out of ________________.
  22. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  23. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  24. You don't need to ________________ round.

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

Answer key

  1. jam — in traffic
  2. bat — in an idiom
  3. clip — to cut
  4. clip — a video
  5. jam — a tight spot
  6. shower — rain
  7. lash — a whip stroke
  8. saw — the tool
  9. clip — for paper
  10. shower — a meteor shower
  11. bat — for baseball
  12. saw — past of 'see'
  13. pop — music
  14. bat — the animal
  15. jam — to spread on bread
  16. saw — the tool
  17. lash — to lash out
  18. shower — to wash
  19. lash — an eyelash
  20. mine — for digging
  21. pop — soda
  22. mine — belonging to me
  23. mine — an explosive
  24. pop — to visit

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