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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 polar ice ________________ is melting.
  2. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. David sat on the ________________.
  4. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  5. He was locked up in a ________________.
  6. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  7. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  8. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  9. He is an ace ________________.
  10. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  11. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  12. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  13. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  14. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  15. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  16. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  17. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  19. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  20. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  21. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  22. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. Fill up this ________________ with water.

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

Answer key

  1. cap — of ice
  2. clip — for paper
  3. swing — to play on
  4. hand — part of the body
  5. cell — in a prison
  6. swing — in golf
  7. pitcher — a jug
  8. cap — a hat
  9. pitcher — in baseball
  10. cap — a lid
  11. swing — music
  12. stick — a piece of wood
  13. kid — to tease
  14. stick — to attach or keep to
  15. kid — child
  16. cell — in biology
  17. hand — in cards
  18. clip — to cut
  19. hand — help
  20. cell — a phone
  21. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  22. stick — a piece of wood
  23. clip — a video
  24. pitcher — a jug

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