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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. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  2. This piece is in a major ________________.
  3. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  4. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  5. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  6. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  7. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  8. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  9. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  13. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  16. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  17. He was locked up in a ________________.
  18. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  21. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  22. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  23. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  24. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — to cut
  2. key — in music
  3. club — for golf
  4. clip — a video
  5. cell — a phone
  6. key — the most important part
  7. cap — a hat
  8. cap — a lid
  9. club — for dancing
  10. clip — for paper
  11. cold — not warm
  12. racket — for tennis
  13. key — for a lock
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. club — a group
  16. cap — of ice
  17. cell — in a prison
  18. racket — a loud noise
  19. cold — an illness
  20. mouse — the animal
  21. mouse — the animal
  22. cell — in biology
  23. mouse — for a computer
  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