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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. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  2. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  4. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  5. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  6. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  7. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  8. You don't need to ________________ round.
  9. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  10. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  11. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  12. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  13. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  14. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  15. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  16. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  17. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  18. We're almost out of ________________.
  19. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  20. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  21. False peace will not ________________.
  22. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  23. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  24. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — to cut
  2. clip — for paper
  3. clip — a video
  4. root — of a word
  5. last — finally
  6. chest — of your body
  7. bat — for baseball
  8. pop — to visit
  9. fine — all right
  10. bat — in an idiom
  11. root — the cause
  12. chest — a box
  13. fine — high quality
  14. root — of a plant
  15. chest — of your body
  16. bat — the animal
  17. last — final
  18. pop — soda
  19. cap — of ice
  20. fine — a penalty
  21. last — to go on
  22. pop — music
  23. cap — a lid
  24. cap — a hat

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