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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. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  3. It's one o'clock ________________.
  4. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  5. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  6. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  7. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  8. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  9. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  10. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  11. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  12. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  13. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  14. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  15. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  16. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  17. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  18. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  19. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  20. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  21. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  22. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  23. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  24. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. bat — the animal
  3. sharp — exactly
  4. rest — what's left
  5. bat — in an idiom
  6. sharp — clever
  7. clip — to cut
  8. leaves — to go away
  9. kid — child
  10. can — a tin
  11. can — a tin
  12. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  13. can — to be able to
  14. sharp — with an edge
  15. rest — a break
  16. fine — high quality
  17. bat — for baseball
  18. clip — a video
  19. rest — what's left
  20. clip — for paper
  21. fine — all right
  22. fine — a penalty
  23. leaves — of a tree
  24. leaves — lets stay

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